An open-pit gold and silver mine in the Central Interior is scheduled to begin operating by 2020.
That was the date New Gold community manager Claudette Gouger gave when she provided an update on the miner's Blackwater project during a Fraser-Fort George Regional District board of directors meeting last week.
Located at Mount Davidson, 160 kilometres southwest of Prince George, the mine will have a 17-year life and is expected to yield 485,000 ounces of gold annually - roughly equal to the output from New Gold's existing operations.
The proposal must still complete a joint federal-provincial environmental review process. There was a public comment period from mid-January to mid-February that included two open houses and four information sessions.
Gouger said there will probably be another public comment period later this summer to do with federal jurisdiction over water and fisheries. But the goal is to have the provincial certificate secured by the end of this year and the federal one by the first quarter of 2017.
Construction of the $1.5-billion project should begin in 2018, and employ 1,200 to 1,500 people while 500 will be on the payroll once production begins. Gouger said there will also be a mill on site to produce gold and silver in bar form rather than simply shipping out concentrate.
New Gold is currently building the Rainy River mine in northwest Ontario and it should be up and running by the middle of next year.
"We own 100 per cent of our projects and we prefer to finance those internally," Gouger said. "So when Rainy River comes online in mid-2017 that revenue stream will help offset some of the capital cost that are associated with the Blackwater project.
"Even though our certificates may be in place in early 2017, we'll continue on with a lot of our permitting - the hundred-plus or so permits that come after you get your certificates to build the mine and then actually, formally starting construction around 2018. There might be some roadwork and pre-engineering that goes on in 2017."
During the exploration phase, Gouger said up to 65 per cent of the work went to local people and New Gold wants to continue the trend.
