The latest buzz in B.C.

Construction began on the Mount Milligan mine site in mid-2010, and work will continue through 2012 to ready the project for production in 2013. — Ernest Von Rosen photo

For an economically beleaguered part of British Columbia hamstrung by a decline in the forestry industry, construction of the Mount Milligan copper-gold mine in northern B.C. is momentous. Promoted by its owner, Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. of Denver, Colorado, as the first major new metal mine to be built in the province in 15 years, the $2-billion open-pit mine is expected to have a 22-year lifespan. Site work began in mid-2010 and commercial production is slated to start in late summer 2013.

At its peak, close to 1,000 workers will be on site building the mine while the project will create approximately 350 full-time jobs once operational. Mount Milligan is projected to produce an average of 81 million pounds of copper and 194,500 ounces of gold each year.

Trish Jacques is a municipal councillor in Mackenzie, which lies 95 kilometres east of the mine; she said her community is already enjoying tangible benefits from the project.

“There’s more people, there’s more opportunity, you see more traffic . . . houses are selling,” she said. “There’s just an uplifted sense (in the community).”

Jacques knows several people now working at the mine site in various capacities. In fact, about 30 per cent of the 570 people now working on site are local residents, and Thompson Creek Metals is placing special emphasis on filling as many jobs as possible with local candidates as well as providing training programs through regional resources to help local people secure jobs. But the mine is viewed as important to all of B.C.

“It’s a huge thing for the province,” said Wes Carson, vice-president and general manager for the Mount Milligan project. “To be able to open a new mine of this size, I mean the provincial revenues that are going to come out of it will be significant.”

Much remains to do at Mount Milligan to make it ready to ship ore in 2013. A new 92-kilometre power line and road upgrades to the site need to be completed. Important work remaining on site includes construction of the tailings storage facility and tailings dam. Other work planned for 2012 is construction of the truck shop, the administration building and the processing plant—the largest single construction component.

The state-of-the-art processing plant will be completed in summer 2013. It will be able to process 60,000 tonnes of low-grade ore per day and produce a copper concentrate to be shipped overseas for final processing.

Carson said his current position is the most senior he’s had in his almost 15-year mining career. He said that although his current job has its challenges—including the major challenge of trying to find qualified employees—it is proving fun.

“It is, absolutely,” Carson said. “I guess it’s a pretty exciting one for me, personally, to be able to take something from a feasibility study—I started on this in 2007—and take it from that paper document to actually being out there moving dirt and getting it done. That’s pretty amazing.”