NNSL (DEC 20/96) - The water licence for the BHP Diamonds mine has been sent to Ottawa for final approval.

And by all accounts, the licence for Canada's first diamond mine is the toughest ever issued in the NWT.

"It's the most involved there's ever been," said Gordon Wray, chairman of the NWT Water Board. "But it's also the largest mining project ever undertaken."

Ron Irwin, northern development minister, can either approve or reject the terms and conditions of the licence. The licence was sent to him Wednesday morning.

Copies of a draft licence were issued to intervenors in the application process.

"The draft licence itself appears to be a tough licence," said Kevin O'Reilly, research director for the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee (CARC) and an intervenor in the process.

"But we're disappointed the water board did not include the security amount, or the duration or the compensation provisions. We have no idea where the water board came down on those."

During public hearings into the water licence application, the question of having BHP post a security deposit, limiting the length of time the licence can be used and compensation provisions from mine activities were all much discussed.

Despite some criticisms of the licence and the process, O'Reilly said it wasn't a bad licence.

"It reflects a new way of doing business," he said. "It is a much tougher licence than any of the current ones.

"It also raises questions about the adequateness of some of the current licences."

However, he added, the draft appeared to have been designed to allow the project to proceed without taking into account all possible affects on the environment and people, he added.

A spokesman for Irwin said the minister would examine the licence as soon as possible.

The BHP project is the first mine to be approved in the NWT for about 20 years.

On Nov. 1, Irwin approved the BHP mine subject to the conditions of the water licence and land-use permits.