Panama President sees no immediate risk from First Quantum mine
Jose Raul Mulino said a government report shows there are no immediate environmental or safety risks from Cobre Panama.
A survey by Roundabout Communications shows nearly 75 per cent of respondents are opposed to the proposed Ajax mine on the outskirts of Kamloops.
Chad Moats, who ran the online survey, said 505 people took part. After removing responses from the same IP address and weighting the sample, the tally cam to 414 respondents for a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.8 per cent, he said.
The survey also shows 54 per cent would support a referendum and 27 per cent would oppose it. Further, 59 per cent agreed Kamloops council “should use every resource” to stop the mine. A total of 23 per cent opposed intervention.
The survey shows 62 per cent feel health risks from the mine would outweigh any economic benefit. Only 18 per cent said they trust the environmental assessment being run by the provincial government.
Finally, 27 per cent said recent layoffs at the Domtar pulp mill made approval of the Ajax project more important.
“The results of this survey show two camps on either end of the spectrum with very little room for compromise or discussion in the middle,” Moats said.
“With nearly three-quarters of Kamloops residents opposing the Ajax mine, even with approval from the environmental assessment panel, KGHM is in tough in Kamloops.”
