Red Chris Waiting For Supreme Court Decision
By 250 News
Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:53 AM
Prince George, B.C. - If it were not for the planned electrification of the Highway 37 line, the plans for mining projects throughout the Northwest may be on hold.
Imperial Metals purchased the Red Chris mine site, which is north of Stewart B.C. for $70 million dollars. That was nearly three times the amount Imperial had hoped to pay, but new, deeper drill cores would suggest the mine is capable of producing a multi-billion dollar return.
Pierre Lebel, of Imperial Metals, says the only thing holding back the start of the Red Chris Mine, is a court challenge on the permitting process.
That challenge is now before the Supreme Court of Canada, and a decision is expected at the end of this month or early in February.
The Red Chris mine has the potential to be a world class mine for copper and gold deposits because of the concentration of copper and gold in the samples. He says it has the potential to operate for 60 to 80 years. Lebel believes this project will drive development in the North and will be first customer on the Highway 37 Electrical grid.
The demand for copper has steadily increased by 3% over the past 5 decades and Lebel says with consumers wanting more technology, the demand will continue.
The road from geological discovery to mine production in Canada is long. Lebel says existing mines in the country are like senior citizens leaning on canes, they are reaching the end of their life, and there haven’t been any new mines permitted to fill the gaps that will be left when those senior citizens “retire.”
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Posted by: Harbinger on January 14 2010 7:14 PM
There is no reason for it to take so long and it does need to be streamlined.
While careful environmental study must be done,it still should not take as long as it does.
The Terrane/Mt.Milligan mine is an example of how long permitting takes!
It should have been done much sooner and they should have been building this mine a year ago!
The permitting process is actually a deterent to new mines.
Time is money, and when you are not mining,you are not making any!
Not many companies can sustain the time it takes.