Former Banks Gold Mine CEO Ben Mossman has been acquited of an obstruction charge.
Judge Herman Seidemann issued the ruling today, saying he could not be sure, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Mossman committed the offence.
In June of 2015, heavy rainfall caused an exploratory site to overflow, discharging an estimated 116 kg of sediment in to the environment.
Senior Inspector on Mines Health and Safety Doug Flynn had claimed that Mossman withheld information regarding the discharge.
Crown Counsel alleged Mossman was obstructing justice by not notifying Flynn of the incident.
Emails asking whether the mine was discharging were received on July 2nd by Mossman from Flynn, to which Mossman replied it was not.
But the court ruled that Flynn had not asked if the mine had previously been discharging, but rather was currently discharging and had never asked if there had been previous incidents.
