VANCOUVER – Taseko Mines has filed a defamation claim in the British Columbia Supreme Court alleging that the Wilderness Committee made defamatory claims about the company's New Prosperity gold-copper project during the 2012 public comment periods. Specifically, the environmental group is said to have alleged that development could destroy Fish Lake.

Fish Lake, or Teztan Biny, is considered sacred to the local Tsilhqot'in First Nation. Taseko's original plan to drain the small lake drew heavy criticism, and the company redesigned its tailings management plan to avoid impacting the water body.

Taseko's suit is based on five articles written, distributed and posted by Wilderness Committee. According to presentations made in court, the material involves libellous descriptions of New Prosperity and a letter writing campaign that encouraged re-publication of the committee's stance. The organization is also accused to pursuing a lawsuit aimed at silencing public debate on Facebook and elsewhere.

The lawyer for Taseko, Roger McConachie, said the onus is on the defendant to prove its statements true.

The first witness at the trial was Taseko CEO John McManus, who said, "We know that taking legal proceedings is a large undertaking, can be time consuming and expensive and outcome uncertain. But the severity of what was being done by the Wilderness Committee ... We felt that this particular attack needed to be retracted and apologized for, otherwise these things become part of the public mindset and it becomes a truth and it is not a truth."

Further information about the New Prosperity project is available at TasekoMines.com. 

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