08/13/2025
Below is the full text of the article expected to be printed in the Cape Breton Post tomorrow. We would like to clarify a few things:
First, Keep Coxheath Clean Association is not an anti-mining group. We do understand the need for copper but our mandate is to respond to this particular mining project, the way it is being handled by our government, and the toll it will take on our communities.
Second, Nova Copper has never extended an invitation to meet with us directly. Regardless, we do not have any outstanding questions for Nova Copper nor would a conversation with Nova Copper change the facts. This is a distraction from our main focus, which is to engage with our government representatives about the proposed project. We are deeply concerned that Mayor Clarke and CBRM Council are not communicating with their constituents on this matter and the majority of our energy is spent advocating for transparency and seeking responses to community concerns about this municipal issue.
Finally, it is worth reiterating that one reason we are aiming to stop this project at the municipal level is because environmental protection guidelines at the provincial level are not sufficient. It is not acceptable for CBRM Council to pass the buck and rely on the province to keep our community safe.
Thank you for reading! Remember to share and urge your Councillor to respond to constituents’ concerns.
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CAPE BRETON POST
Group opposed to Cape Breton copper mine urge CBRM mayor, council to provide update
'Lots of things seemed to be happening behind closed doors, without community engagement'
By lan Nathanson
Published Aug 12, 2025
6 minute read
A Coxheath-area group opposed to a proposed copper mine project for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality says they want to urgently meet with Mayor Cecil Clarke and other municipal staff to get an update on the status of the project.
"There has been no public consultation, no further information provided about what is happening, said Laura MacNeil, president of the Keep Coxheath Clean Association.
"It's just really frustrating and scary. There's a lot of anxiety in Beechmont, Coxheath and nearby communities about what's going on."
'IMMEDIATE CLARIFICATION'
Following a media report mentioning the mining exploration company is supposedly closing in on signing an agreement with the CBRM, at least according to a company spokesperson's comment, MacNeil sent out emails to the mayor and various councillors expressing an urgent need to request a meeting with CBRM council on the matter.
"Accountability to the public should be a top priority for any municipality. We expect the CBRM to be transparent and engaged with its residents," MacNeil said in her email.
"We seek immediate clarification. Is the CBRM entering into a new agreement with Nova Copper? If so, what are the terms? Why is it happening behind closed doors? Why is our district councillor, Esmond (Blue) Marshall, not privy to this information? We are fielding an influx of questions from concerned community members.
"Our board of directors is requesting an urgent meeting with CBRM staff to get these answers, which we will then share with our membership."
NOVA COPPER EXPLORATION
Two years ago, Nova Copper - with offices in Halifax and Sydney - began exploration of a Coxheath Hills area pit, which has a history of mining dating back to the discovery of copper there in 1875. At that time, the firm said that because of moves being made toward green energy, mining companies need to supply more copper to the world market.
Amid the company's earliest exploration plans, a request to access land owned by the Coxheath Hills Wilderness Recreation Association wound up denied.
Later that year, a CBRM staff recommendation that the municipality sell 1,002 acres of land (in the form of five adjacent lots in the Coxheath area) to Nova Copper was set to be brought before council at an August 2023 meeting.
Anti-mine protestors, including members of Keep Coxheath Clean, demonstrated outside city hall in Sydney to express their disgust with the municipality's proposal. Once many of those protestors sat down inside council chambers hoping to hear more about this potential sale, the agenda item was shelved.
"We had no idea that this was even being considered, and yet council was already going on tours," MacNeil told the Post in a recent interview.
"They had already had a workshop put on by the Cape Breton Partnership all about this project.
"Lots of things seemed to be happening behind closed doors, without community engagement."
CONSULTANT REPORT
In early 2024, Keep Coxheath Clean released a consultant report, which it commissioned to evaluate the impacts of a mine opening anywhere within a 33-square-kilometre span Nova Copper had been exploring for copper and other minerals.
The geophysics expert who completed the report had explained it would be "highly likely" that a future mine would result in environmental contamination in the surrounding areas, including lakes, rivers and the wells of homes. He cited a variety of reasons, including proximity to vulnerable areas, Sydney's average rainfall and the type of ore being explored.
In a 2024 interview with the Post, MacNeil said that, from her group's perspective, the consultant's report "completely validates" concerns many residents living near the exploration area had posed since the previous summer.
LACKED OBJECTIVITY
However, the founder, president and chief executive of Nova Copper Inc., Harry Cabrita, issued an emailed statement to the Post at that time saying the report lacked any objectivity.
"There are so many factual mistakes and other misrepresentations in the report that Nova Copper could have easily corrected had we been given the opportunity to meet with the report's author," Cabrita said in his statement. "It is not peer-reviewed. It is not clear from the report that the author even visited Cape Breton Island."
Asked whether Keep Coxheath Clean has engaged in any conversation with Nova Copper representatives to speak about their concerns, MacNeil said no.
"Nova Copper has never reached out to us or contacted us, even though all of our contact information is available on our website, which they're aware of," she said.
PERCEIVED LACK OF COMMUNICATION
Yet in an emailed statement sent to the Post late last week, the firm's project director, Joe Hines, had a different take on this perceived lack of communication.
"Unfortunately, there is a special interest group that has repeatedly refused any offers we have extended to them to meet and share information on our development activities," Hines said in his statement. "This has been difficult to understand and has made it challenging for us to engage and listen.
"We are exploring for copper which is the critical mineral in the fight against climate change."
Hines acknowledged that the firm "has been performing exploration work in the Beechmont area over the past several years.
"Nova Copper follows all applicable provincial environmental, health and safety rules. We continue to be able to conduct this work through legal access agreements with local private landowners and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality," he added.
"We have been prioritizing Indigenous engagement as we continue developing our forward-looking exploration plans. We welcome the opportunity to update anybody on the work that is underway."
NO NEW INFORMATION
The Post reached out to the mayor's office late last week to find out whether any new information on the project was being considered for its next meeting. No response had been received so far.
District 3 Coun. Esmond (Blue) Marshall, who represents the district where the Nova Copper project is said to be taking place, told the Post that he hasn't heard any updates on the firm's plans.
For clarity, Marshall contends that a lot of these discussions about potentially restarting the mine took place under a different CBRM administration.
"The last time this went to council was in 2023, and I wasn't around at that time," said Marshall, who was voted in during the October 2024 municipal election, and when his predecessor, Cyril MacDonald, decided not to re-offer as District 3 councillor.
"And I didn't hear anything from the company. That's all I know. But I have been talking with people in Eskasoni about it, and I do know they're all against this mine coming."
Eskasoni's Albert Marshall, a leading environmental voice and spokesperson for Mi'kmaq natural resources and environmental issues: "It's only fair to request some kind of dialogue, because under no circumstances are we going to allow that development to occur."
Eskasoni's Albert Marshall, a leading environmental voice and spokesperson for Mi’kmaq natural resources and environmental issues, said he's all for seeking an update from the CBRM on where they stand with Nova Copper and its potential mining project.
"It's only fair to request some kind of dialogue, because under no circumstances are we going to allow that development to occur," Marshall said.
"We're not anti-development here. What we're saying is, considering the state of our environment in which we have exhausted the carrying capacity of the system with the rate of extraction, and we have exhausted the cleansing capacity of our system with the rate of injections of toxins into it," he added.
"That should be alarming to anyone. We should be using the brains that the Lord has given us to seek alternatives that are going to be much more friendly to the environment - and focus on the alternatives that will not harm the very source of life in which we all depend upon."
OPEN TO CONVERSATION
Hines said Nova Copper is open to any conversation regarding the mining project. The statement, however, did not make any specific mention of any agreement in the works.
"The support we have received from the people of Cape Breton Regional Municipality to proceed with safe, responsible mineral exploration to create long-term jobs and economic benefit has been encouraging," he said in a statement.
"We look forward to continuing these
conversations with supporters, information seekers - and even with anti-mining activists. As a locally based company, we believe it's important to meet with all groups interested in our project activities."
— With files from Cape Breton Post Staff
