N.S. to protect 684-hectares of wilderness, lake eyed by mining company

A new wilderness area in Nova Scotia’s Guysborough County will protect 300 hectares of old-growth forest as well as a lake that has been identified by a mining company as a water source for a proposed gold mine. 

The Archibald Lake Wilderness Area will encompass 684 hectares of forest, wetland and three lakes that feed into a tributary of the St. Marys River, one of Nova Scotia’s longest rivers. 

The area is also provides habitat for the endangered mainland moose and Canada warbler. 

Greg Morrow, the province’s agriculture minister and the MLA who represents the area, called it a “pristine natural gem” and spoke at an event in Sherbrooke, N.S., on Monday.  About 50 people attended.

Conservation groups have long sought protection for the area and stressed its importance to the watershed where a salmon restoration project has seen success. 

Archibald Lake’s ecological importance is “hard to overstate,” said Scott Beaver of the St. Mary’s River Association in a provincial press release.

“The salmon, turtles, moose, lichens, songbirds, bats, and forests will all benefit from this important conservation decision,” said Chris Miller, executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

The group conducted fieldwork in the area over the last three  years and identified 37 rare species, including seven that are endangered. 

The province said people will be able to continue to hunt and fish in the wilderness area.

Proposed gold mine wants to use lake

Atlantic Mining Nova Scotia Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Australia-based St Barbara Ltd., hopes to build an open-pit gold mine near the wilderness area. The Cochrane Hill project wants to draw water from Archibald Lake and discharge treated wastewater back into the lake. 

The company reiterated in a statement to CBC News Monday morning that it remains committed project and said it will be assessing the designation’s impact on its plans. 

The new protections “are creating unexpected barriers and challenges for the industry” and the company urged the province to “reflect on the impact” they will have on the mining industry and rural communities, communications consultant Kenny Cameron said in an emailed statement. 

It said the proposed mine never put Archibald Lake “in jeopardy.”

“Mining operations across the globe co-exist with lakes, rivers and streams and do it in a way that balances mining operations with healthy eco-systems,” the St Barbara statement said.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation in Nova Scotia has said it was concerned the Cochrane Hill project could hurt spawning areas and habitat for wild Atlantic salmon.

The federal government previously terminated its environment assessment of the proposed mine in 2022, saying the company failed to submit the required information and studies by deadline. 

A May 2023 provincial socio-economic analysis of protecting Archibald Lake said the designation would “prohibit future exploration and potential mine development within the wilderness area, except where pre-existing mineral exploration licenses exist.”

Development could only proceed if it was determined the activities wouldn’t “degrade the wilderness area.”