JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) –The British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office is proceeding with TSX-listed Taseko Mines’ request for it to amend the environmental assessment certificate of its New Prosperity gold/copper project in central British Columbia.

In February, Taseko sued the federal government in the Supreme Court, seeking unspecified compensation for a 2014 decision that blocked development of the proposed $1.5-billion deposit.

The Vancouver-based company then claimed that the government and its agents – including the Environment Minister at the time – had failed to meet their legal duties to Taseko when they blocked the New Prosperity project.

In addition to this undertaking, Taseko will be filing a notice of work (NoW) with the Ministry of Energy and Mines that will allow the company to gather information to advance mine permitting under the British Columbia Mines Act.

The company says it looks forward to working with the six local Tsilhqot'in First Nation bands, as represented by the Tsilhqot'in National Government on the consultative and substantive aspects of the NoW, and as per the terms of the 2012 settlement agreement.

"The ownership and development of mineral resources are explicit areas of provincial jurisdiction and responsibility, granted under the 1982 Amendments to the Constitution Act 1867," comments Taseko CEO Russell Hallbauer.

He adds that the New Prosperity environmental assessment process has been unduly influenced by the actions of the federal government. “The fact that the government of British Columbia is moving forward with the certificate amendment process indicates the importance it places on the development of the mine."

Hallbauer further notes that the government of Canada's position regarding the federal authorisations required for New Prosperity can be rectified if discussions around the salient issues raised by the Federal Panel in 2013 are objectively and scientifically reviewed.

“The information we will gather from the NoW field programme will aid those discussions,” says Taseko.

New Prosperity is the largest undeveloped gold/copper porphyry in North America and contains 11-million ounces gold and four-billion pounds of copper. When in production, New Prosperity will produce 250 000 oz/y of gold and 110-million pounds of copper a year for 20 years.

Remaining measured and indicated resources are grading 0.40 g/t gold and 0.30% copper containing 2.3-million ounces of gold and 1.2-billion pounds of copper.