TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vancouver-based Terrane Metals has received a Mines Act permit from the province of British Columbia, in Canada, for its Mount Milligan copper/gold project, the firm announced on Thursday.

The permit, which was awarded after a long review led by the mining and minerals division of the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, is the key approval required for construction and operations activities at the mine site.

Construction will now be allowed to begin as soon as the company has received timber cutting and fisheries approvals.

“This permit, together with other approvals that are now under review, including the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act approval anticipated in Q4 2009, will allow us to proceed with the project and create sustainable value for the region," Terrane CEO Robert Pease said in a statement.

Terrane said in July it would complete an updated feasibility study for Mount Milligan in the fourth quarter of this year.

Canada's second-biggest gold-miner, Goldcorp, owns a fully-diluted 59% stake in Terrane.

Based on a March 2008 feasibility study, the Mount Milligan opencast mine was expected to produce a yearly average of 88-million pounds of copper and 217 000 oz of gold a year, over a fifteen-year life-of-mine.

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