qathet Regional District’s board of directors has no objection to the re-establishment of a quarry at Anderson Bay on Texada Island to extract marble.
At the June 28 regional board meeting, directors were presented a recommendation that the board advise the provincial ministry of energy, mines and low carbon innovation that it did not object to the application by Matrix Marble Corporation to start mining marble again in Electoral Area D.
Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick said after talking to a number of people in the island’s hiking community, she was willing to support this recommendation.
“There’s a number of things I’d like to know, however, such as where the crew is going to overnight, or be coming in every day by barge,” said McCormick. “Will they be improving the road to the site? Anderson Bay is about as far away from civilization as you can get on Texada Island. There is a road that goes there but it is four-wheel drive only and that’s under good weather conditions if trees have been cleared.
“It’s very marginal getting from there to anywhere else on the island. There is a creek in the area: what about riparian issues? What about historical issues? Would the applicant be willing to work with the local historical society to perhaps have a plaque commemorating the earlier mines that were there?”
The regional board supported the recommendation for no objection to the proposal.
According to a staff report, Matrix Marble Corporation is applying for a multi-year area-based permit to re-establish the marble mine. The staff report indicates that the applicant states that the marble quarry near Anderson Bay was opened in the late 1900s by Nootka Marble Quarries of Ucluelet, and Continental Marble of Vancouver. The applicant told the regional district planning department that the quarry worked on and off until the late 1950s.
This Texada Island marble has been used as decorative stone in the BC Legislature buildings, Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria and the original Vancouver Public Library, according to the staff report.
“The applicant states that their intention is to reopen this historic quarry and to make this material available again to architects, designers and the general public,” the staff report stated.
The applicant proposes a bulk sample of 2,000 tonnes for the initial test in the first year of the permit and a total of 10,000 tonnes over the five-year permit period, according to the staff report. The applicant states that in order to minimize visual impacts of the operation, they propose to maintain the existing forest tree barrier along the work area.
The applicant stated there would be no use of explosives, which causes damage to the extraction material. The material would be barged from Texada Island to Cowichan Bay and transported to the applicant’s marble and stone facility in Duncan for cutting and polishing.
