By Greg Fry

Williams Lake mayor reacts to report of financial woes at Imperial Metals

Aug 28, 2018 | 11:20 AM

WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. — Williams Lake Mayor Walt Cobb reiterated the importance of Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley mine in nearby Likely to his community’s financial health today.

This following a recent article in online publication The Narwhal, which reports “financial woes” at the company. The article alleges the company’s Mount Polley and Red Chris copper-gold mines are “totally on the brink of bankruptcy,” and not “even close to making money.”

The woes include the after-effects of a recent two month strike, a low share price — $1.33, down from $18 per share in early 2014 — and allegations that the company is currently surviving on debt, paying $75 million per year in interest expenses. In addition to all that, the article notes “the company’s latest quarterly financial statement reported a net loss of $36.6 million.”

Cobb says he doesn’t have intimate knowledge of Imperial’s financial situation though he’s well aware of the recent strike and the cost repairs to the company’s tailing pond in Likely were following the August 2014 tailings dam breach.

“I’m on the community committee regarding the tailings pond redevelopment and I know that’s cost them a lot of money.”

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He hopes the reports of possible bankruptcy aren’t true, noting that the well-paying mining jobs at both Mount Polley and at Gibraltar Mines are critical to the economy in his town.

“They create hundreds of jobs for people not only in Williams Lake but in the surrounding areas. So, yeah, it’s very, very important. Particularly, it helps us diversify from the forest industry and the ranching industry.”

But when it comes to the worries that come with the cyclical nature of mining, Cobb says that’s nothing new.

“No. We’ve had strikes. Gibraltar shut down for a few years (due to low commodity prices). It’s one of those things we have to deal with as a resource community.”