St. Barbara's Nova Scotia Gold Project to Undergo Federal Impact Assessment
The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada has determined that St. Barbara Limited's proposed 15-Mile Processing Hub Project in Nova Scotia will undergo a federal impact assessment. The company criticized the decision as duplicative, while local opponents welcomed the additional scrutiny over environmental and Indigenous rights concerns.
The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada announced last week that St. Barbara Limited’s 15-Mile Processing Hub Project will undergo a federal impact assessment, opting for federal review instead of deferring the project to a provincial environmental assessment alone.
St. Barbara, an Australia-based company, is pursuing a multi-pronged mining project spanning three sites on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore. The proposed project includes three new open-pit gold mines and one processing facility scattered across rural parts of Halifax and Guysborough counties. The specific sites involved are known as Fifteen Mile Stream, Beaver Dam, and Cochrane Hill.
Andrew Strelein, managing director and CEO of St. Barbara, called the agency's decision "confusing and disappointing" and described it as "unnecessary and duplicative reviews." Strelein stated that the federal impact assessment appears to be a "direct challenge" to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s efforts to streamline regulatory processes. The Carney government aims to remove duplication between Ottawa and provinces and reduce regulatory turnaround time to one year. Nova Scotia signed a co-operation agreement with Ottawa on streamlining regulatory processes this spring.
Nova Scotia Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton wrote to the impact assessment agency in July asking it to defer to the provincial regulatory process. Premier Tim Houston began prioritizing natural resource development last year, leading St. Barbara to renew its push to expand operations. Previous projects at these sites stalled during provincial environmental assessments due to tight regulation criticism from St. Barbara. The company currently owns the Touquoy gold mine near Moose River, N.S., which had been idle but recently received final approvals to start processing stockpiled ore.
Local opponents celebrated the news of the federal impact assessment. Scott Beaver, a councillor for the Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s, said he believes Ottawa will do a more thorough job assessing risks than the province would. Beaver is also president of the St. Mary’s River Association and argues gold mining poses too great a risk to salmon habitats. Ottawa is considering designating St. Mary’s River as an Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area.
More than 500 submissions were made during the initial review, many critical, influencing the agency's decision. The impact assessment agency identified potential adverse effects to fish, migratory birds, and Indigenous peoples and their rights.
Despite the added layer of review, St. Barbara stated the agency assured them the assessment can conclude in time for construction to begin mid-2028.