Minister's Role in Taseko Mines Stock 'Free Fall' Probed

A Minister in British Columbia has been accused by the opposition of leaking confidential information regarding a mining company.

The Liberal MP Mark Holland demanded that the government explain just how the Taseko Mines Ltd stock rose drastically on Oct 14. The unusual trading of the western mining company has lost millions of dollars for investors. Taseko is a mid-tier copper producer located out of British Columbia, Canada

The Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said that the accusations that his government had leaked the decision to turn down permission for a gold mine were incorrect. The company’s share price fell sharply two weeks before the decision was publically announced as 2.7 million shares of the Taseko Mine Ltd were traded in a span of 40 seconds.

John Baird the Conservative House leader said that the accusations were pure speculation. He did not confirm if the government or the RCMP had launched an investigation into the events surrounding the fall of the stock prices for Taseko Mines.

However the British Columbia Securities Commission is looking into the incident as it had got a report about the unusual trading activity in the stock price of the company from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.