B.C. jade company that’s been operating in the province for four decades says a provincial roadblock is preventing it from doing business.
If the province were to have an ambassador for jade, there’s a good case for that job going to Surrey’s Kirk Makepeace.
“I founded the company approximately 40 years ago,” he told Global News.
At various times his family-run company has been the province’s biggest jade producer and one of its best known boosters, but business has been tough in recent years.
“It has basically, in the last four years, disappeared,” he said.
“The market has been taken away from us, our Asian consumers are going to competitors in Russia or Afghanistan to find jade because its no longer available here.”
That change came after a reality TV show called Jade Fever drew attention to the industry in B.C., how much money was being made, and raised questions about whether it was responsibly regulated.
The Tahltan First Nation, whose territory includes most of the mines, wanted a reset. The provincial government agreed, shutting down jade mining in the area starting in 2020.
“We put all our investment into the season,” Makepeace said.
“We mobilized, we put our whole team up there and were getting ready to start mining … we didn’t get out permit.”
CEO Matt Strauts said without certainty about when the company can get back to mining he can’t say how long the businesses lasts.
The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation said the current order will last through May. But it couldn’t offer guidance on whether mining can actually resume then, or on what terms.
The Tahltan First Nation told Global News it was working with the province, reviewing permit regulations for jade mining on its traditional lands.
Makepeace, who has decades of experience with the Tahltan, is in touch with the nation and supportive of their vision.
He said the people he can’t get to are in Victoria, including the minister responsible for mines herself.
“We’ve made numerous attempts to contact Josie Osbourne and have had no response,” he said.
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