Claude Resources, a Saskatoon, Canada-based mining company, has been found guilty of polluting the water in Saskatchewan by a provincial court in La Ronge, Canada. The offending Seabee Mine is located near Laonil Lake around 125 km north east of La Ronge and began production in 1991.
The Seabee mine is 100% owned and operated by Claude Resources and has produced 900,000 ounces of gold since it commenced operation.
A search warrant had been executed on the mine on June 3, 2009 and charges were laid after an investigation by the enforcement officers of the Environment Department was concluded. The company pleaded guilty to 3 offences under the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations of the Fisheries Act. It has been ordered to pay a fine of $40,000 and an additional $ 50,000 to be paid to the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation bringing the total to $90,000.
Environment Canada had conducted offsite and onsite inspections of charges such as depositing acutely lethal effluent, depositing effluent containing total suspended solids in excess of prescribed limits into a place where it may enter water frequented by fish and failing to report to an inspector without delay when monitoring tests have exceeded the prescribed limits.