Silvertip Mine Permitting and Site Support
Client
Coeur Silvertip Holdings Ltd.
Location
British Columbia
Dates
January 2015 – Ongoing
Background
The Silvertip Project is an underground silver, lead, and zinc mine in northern British Columbia (BC). The mine is located approximately nine kilometers south of the Yukon border, and 90 kilometers southwest of Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. Exploration and mining activity in the area date to the 1950s. Construction of the existing mine started in 2015, and commissioning began in 2016. Silvertip was acquired by Coeur Mining in 2017. Following several years of operation, Coeur suspended mining and processing activities at Silvertip in early 2020 and has since commenced evaluation of a larger potential expansion and mine restart through an ongoing underground and surface exploration project.
Services Provided
Baseline studies and Permitting: Hatfield has provided a range of services to support Mines Act and Environmental Management Act permit amendments since 2016 (e.g., winter operations, mining rate increase, Phase 1 and Phase 2 underground exploration). This has included baseline characterization studies (climate, hydrology, groundwater, water quality), groundwater modelling, environmental effects assessments, and technical and advisory support for the permitting processes.
Monitoring Support Services: Hatfield has provided site environmental management support services since 2015. This has included installation and maintenance of surface water, climate and groundwater monitoring stations, provision of field training to Silvertip environment staff, environmental monitoring support, drafting and updating the water monitoring and adaptive management plan (WMAMP), and an effluent discharge trigger action response plan (TARP).
Data Management and Annual Reporting: Silvertip’s monitoring data is securely stored in Hatfield’s proprietary environmental database management system (EnviroData). Building on this platform, Hatfield has automated regulatory monthly reporting. We have also completed annual monitoring reports for Silvertip since 2016.
Environmental Management Support: Hatfield has conducted as-needed water quality assessments (e.g., spill response), ecotoxicology studies (reagent use authorizations) support for determination of Site Performance Objectives (SPOs), and evaluation of potential water quality effects of legacy site activities prior to the 2015 mine restart.
