Taseko Mines Limited filed a Notice of Civil Claim against the Western Canada Wilderness Committee Thursday, accusing it and its outreach director of defamation.

The claim accuses the committee and outreach director Sven Biggs for "a series of false and defamatory statements concerning Taseko and its proposed New Prosperity Gold-Copper Project."

Russell Hallbauer, CEO of Taseko, issued the following statement:

"Taseko welcomes a full, thorough and open process to evaluate the merits of New Prosperity project, which we believe will be a big win for British Columbia, First Nations and Canada. We cannot, however, stand idly by when certain parties such as the Western Canada Wilderness Committee mislead the public about the project. The facts do matter. All parties benefit from an open and fair discussion of the facts, not false, misleading and harmful inaccuracies.

"We have not taken this course of action lightly; we have filed this notice of civil claim only after repeated requests to the Western Canada Wilderness Committee to correct the record were not satisfactorily addressed. Taseko has expended considerable resources and effort to minimize the environmental impact of New Prosperity and we remain committed to developing an efficient, sustainable and responsible mine."

The Wilderness Committee has also issued a statement following Taseko's claim.

“We are very disappointed that this mining company has chosen litigation instead of fair and open public debate,” said Joe Foy, national campaign director for the Wilderness Committee in a news release. “We believe this court action stifles fair comment about Taseko’s environmentally risky mine proposal. People should be able to enjoy full participation in the Federal Environmental Review process, including the right to comment — without fear of time-consuming and costly litigation.”

Foy says the Wilderness Committee would continue to vigorously speak out about the severe risks of Taseko’s proposed mine and encouraged people to check out the Wilderness Committee’s website.

“This ill-conceived mine proposal should be turned down once and for all. That’s our view and we’re standing by it,” Foy says.

The full New Prosperity project description has been made available for public review. These and other resources may be found at www.newprosperityproject.ca.