By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews Indigenous leaders from the Similkameen Valley are “deeply disappointed” by a provincial decision to approve a contentious mine expansion in their territories — emphasizing that they did not give consent for the project to move forward. On Monday, the B.C. government announced it had issued Mines Act and Environmental Management Act permits for the New Ingerbelle expansion of the Copper Mountain Mine near Princeton in smǝlqmíx territory. The expansion project will see the century-old mining operation revive its old Ingerbelle open pit gold and copper mine site near nməlqytkʷ (the Similkameen River). The expansion will extend the mining’s operation until 2047, the province said. In the province’s statement, it acknowledged that the mine is in the Upper and Lower Similkameen Indian Bands’…
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