Photo by: Pretium Resources
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian project developer Pretium Resources, which is focused on bringing its flagship Brucejack project, in British Columbia, to operation, on Thursday announced that the final environmental assessment certificate application had been screened and accepted for filing by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO).
Pretium noted that after filing the application, the BCEAO had a 180-day period to complete a review, involving a working group that would include representatives from First Nations, local governments and other government agencies.
The BCEAO would then prepare an assessment report for a decision by the Environment Minister and the Energy and Mines Minister.
The federal Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency would review the environmental-impact statement, which had also been filed, in coordination with the British Columbia provincial permitting process.
Pretium had proposed to construct a 2 700 t/d underground gold mine at its Brucejack property.
Analysts had expressed concern that in the wake of the disastrous mine-waste spill last week, following the tailings pond failure at Imperial Metals' Mount Polley mine, British Columbia could delay, or even derail, other energy and mining projects planned in the famously 'green' province.