Taseko Mines submitted a new plan for its Prosperity project on Monday, saying it has addressed environmental concerns that saw its last plan rejected by the Canadian federal government. The revised plan would push the capital costs up by $300 million, to $1.1 billion.
The gold- copper project in northern British Columbia raised the ire of environmentalists and First Nations groups for the proposed destruction of a lake to be used as a tailings impoundment. A provincial environmental assessment process had approved the project, but the federal government’s own review rejected it last November.
Taseko says the revised plan “greatly reduces environmental impacts, preserves Fish Lake and its aquatics, and enables all mine operations…to be contained in one single watershed.” CEO Russell Hallbauer said the original plan was constructed in 2005, but the project’s economics no longer require the lake to be filled in because the prices of copper and gold are significantly higher now.
“Our initiative to preserve Fish Lake and accommodate the concerns of the Federal Government and First Nations communities is a major commitment and undertaking by Taseko,” Hallbauer said in a news release.
The proposed open-pit mine near Williams Lake would have a 20-year mine life and produce up to 70,000 tonnes of ore per day.
Comments
Jacob S. Dyck
Straight up. I work for Taseko (Gibraltor). I am an Industrial Electrician with experience in mining. I started in October 2007 with Taseko. It has been a rough road, while starting production and moderizing the existing Milling Operation with Pit upgrades. Changing 3 Ball and 3Rod Mills to 6 Ball Mills and adding a Sag Mill with GE twin 6.5 Thousand Horse power Sync. Drives with a Q-field to balance load using GE Fanuc Control. Changing to a new float procedure, which worked well. One has to understand the complexities of this type of upgrade. Tight schedules and delivery times. Organizing the Gibraltor workforce and contractors to blend as one unit. Taseko has proven it can be done without demolition and building a complete new grinding mill and concentrator. We are now in the process of “Twinning” the process with a “New” Concentrator, Float section Copper Presses and Moly Section. There is a lot of excitement, both on the floor and with the Taseko (New) Prosperity Project. It is alive and vibrant. Cannot wait to see the next inovation or control process to be added/modified. We as Canadians realize there are three levels of Government, Federal, Provincial and First Nations. Mr. RH, we would like to hear from you in the next quarterly meeting. Lets book some face time for you to speak with us. Don’t be shy.
Jacob D.