Judge orders B.C. government to pay mining company more than 335,000

VANCOUVER – The B.C. government has been ordered by a judge to compensate a mining firm for interfering with its claims.

Golden Rock Products Inc. staked two calcium carbonate claims in 2002 in the Kicking Horse Canyon about eight kilometres east of Golden, B.C., near the Trans-Canada Highway.

Calcium carbonate and is used in landscaping, building and even health-related products.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice John Savage says both parties have agreed that access to one of the claims was difficult because of its proximity to the highway.

But he says after the provincial government completed improvements known as the Kicking Horse Canyon project, “it was virtually impossible to access” Highway 1 from one of the claims.

The company sought more than $8.4 million in compensation, but Savage sided with the government expert on assessment of loss and awarded the firm just over $335,000 plus interest.