Imperial Metals Corporation, known as IMI Imperial Metals Inc. until 2002, is a Canadian metals and mining company. Engaging in the acquisition, exploration, development, mining, and production of base and precious metals in North America, the majority of its holdings and operations are in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. In 2024 the Company produced 61,296,423 pounds copper and 57,051 ounces gold from the

Mount Polley mine Mount Polley mine is a Canadian List of gold mines in Canada, gold and List of copper mines in Canada, copper mine located in British Columbia near the towns of Williams Lake, British Columbia, Williams Lake and Likely, British Columbia, Likely. ...

and its 30% interest in the Red Chris mine.

Operations

Imperial owns, and has an interest in, two operating mines in British Columbia, one mine in care and maintenance in British Columbia, and two exploration stage projects also in British Columbia currently under development.

Mount Polley Mine

The

located 100 km northeast of

Williams Lake, British Columbia Williams Lake is a city in the Central Interior of British Columbia, in the central part of a region known as the Cariboo. Williams Lake is one of the largest cites, by population of metropolitan area, in the Cariboo after neighbouring Quesnel ...

is an

open pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ...

copper/gold mine that started operation in 1997. In August 2014 the mine was the site of a dam breach. In the short term after the breach, the mining company faced protests by local activists including members of the Secwepemc Nation. The mine reopened in 2016 and closed again in 2019. After a three year suspension of operations the mine recommenced operations in July 2022.

Red Chris Mine

The Red Chris Mine is an operating open-pit copper/gold mine owned 30% by Imperial Metals and 70% by

Newmont Newmont Corporation is an American gold mining company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado. It is the world's largest gold mining corporation. Incorporated in 1921, it holds ownership of gold mines in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Do ...

. The mine property is located outside of the community of

Iskut Iskut is a small, mostly Indigenous community in the Stikine Country of northwestern British Columbia. It is located on Highway 37, at the north end of Eddontenajon Lake just south of Dease Lake and the crossing of the Stikine River. Communi ...

, with the

Klappan River The Klappan River is a major tributary of the Stikine River in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It flows north from an area known as the Sacred Headwaters, which is the source not only of this river but also of the Nass, Skeena, Spatsizi a ...

flowing through the property less than 20 km from its confluence with the

Stikine River The Stikine River ( ) is a major river in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. Flowing west and ...

. The mine's proximity to the

Sacred Headwaters The Sacred Headwaters is a large subalpine drainage basin centred around Klappan Mountain of the Klappan Range in northern British Columbia. It is the source of three wild salmon rivers: the Skeena River, Nass River, and Stikine River. It is al ...

and the transboundary nature of environmental management in this region has raised concerns across the border on the

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

n panhandle. On February 1, 2015, the Globe and Mail reported that commercial fisherman, native organizations, and the mayors of Sitka and Petersburg have released a joint statement requesting an "equal seat at the table with Canada in discussions about how and if watersheds shared by both countries are developed."Hume, Mark.
Mount Polley Spill taints Alaska-B.C. mine relations
"

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

. February 1, 2015.

References

{{Reflist Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Mining companies of Canada