Taseko Mines has passed a major hurdle for its proposed $800-million Prosperity gold and copper mine in Central B.C.
The provincial government announced Thursday the project had passed an environmental review led by the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office. The project still needs federal approval.
The mine, a conventional open-pit mining project with a 20-year operating life, will be located approximately 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake.
The ore concentrate will be transported by truck to the existing Gibraltar Mine Concentrate Load-out facility near Macalister, 54 kilometres north of Williams Lake.
The company has said the project will create 500 direct jobs, another 1,200 indirect jobs during a 20-year period.
"This future mine is very important to south-central B.C. which is dealing with the fallout from the pine beetle destruction of our forests," said Taseko president and CEO Russell Hallbauer when the environmental assessment was announced last summer.
Hallbauer noted the mine would have an economic output more than three times that of the entire commercial fishing industry and larger than B.C.'s film and television industry.
The Mining Association of B.C., in a letter to the Canadian Environmental Association of B.C., has also said the project presents an opportunity for economic diversification in the Central Interior, particularly important given the downturn in the forest sector.
B.C.'s environmental assessment report concluded the project is not likely to result in any significant adverse effect, with the exception of the loss of Fish Lake and Little Fish Lake.
The provincial environmental assessment certificate contains 103 commitments Taseko Mines
must implement throughout various stages of the project.
The project is being opposed by the Tsilhqot'in Nation because of the destruction of the 121-hectare Fish Lake, called Teztan Biny in their language. The lake is home to rainbow trout. The First Nation has launched court action against the project.
The Prosperity project is one of several proposed mines in north and central B.C.
The closest project to Prince George -- which has both provincial and federal approval -- is Terrane Metals' $917-million Mount Milligan gold and copper mine. The project, which the company hopes to start construction on this summer, is 155 kilometres northwest of Prince George.
That project has received support from Prince George businesses and economic agencies. The mine, with a forecast life of 15 years, is expected to create 400 jobs. Between 200 to 600 workers will also be needed during the mine's two-year construction period.
The mine has not received universal support. The Nak'azdli First Nation has launched court action against both the province's and federal government's regulatory approvals.
