Following a request by the Colchester County council, Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources delayed issuing a request for proposals for gold exploration in the Warwick Mountain area until early May.
The 30,000-hectare terrain between Earltown, Tatamagouche, and Wentworth is considered to have potential for the development of multiple gold mines.
But according to local publication The Chronicle Herald, Colchester council is worried about the fact that extractive activities would take place in the county's watershed. Thus, community members want to have a "best mining practices policy" in place before getting miners' hopes high.
A council minute reads: "That Council approves that a letter be written to the Minister of Natural Resources requesting a delay in the Request for Proposals for gold exploration rights to the Warwick Mountain area of Colchester and Cumberland Counties until such time that a policy is in place on Best Management Practices; and, that this letter be copied to the MLA Karen Casey and the Minister of Environment. Motion Carried Unanimously."
Yet, Natural Resources spokesman Bruce Nunn told the Herald that environmental policies already exist and that each miner that is allowed to move beyond exploration has to go through a provincial environmental assessment approval and an industrial approval, and is very likely to need a federal approval as well.