Vancouver-headquartered NorZinc has all the major permits required for the construction and operation of the Prairie Creek mine and an all-season access road that will provide year-round access to the site in the Northwest Territories.
Parks Canada issued the water licence and land use permit portion for the all-season access road last week and the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board issued road permits on November 13.
However, owing to the timing of the issuance of the road permits, the company is considering an alternative road construction schedule, details of which will be announced at a later stage, NorZinc reported on Monday.
The initial 170 km winter road to the mine site was planned for the first quarter of next year.
“We finally have the last major permit in place to build the Prairie Creek mine and will be working very hard over the coming weeks to present, and obtain approval for, the management and monitoring plans for the all season road so we can advance construction and start to build,” said CEO and president Don MacDonald.
"The timely approval of the management plans will be critical for us to continue to meet our development schedule outlined over 16 months ago. It is also critical that we develop the Prairie Creek mine in a manner that is the most environmentally sustainable and with the strongest local indigenous support."
In the first ten years of its 15-year mine life, the Prairie Creek mine will produce an average of 95-million pounds a year of zinc, 105-million pounds a year of lead and 2.1-million ounces a year of silver.
A 2017 feasibility study estimated that the project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of C$344.5-million and an internal rate of return of 23.8%. Payback has been estimated at 4.4 years.