The Bonanza Ledge mine expansion near Wells has received provincial permit approval.
Alex Callahan, Spokesperson for Osisko Development, said the permit approval will allow the company to continue to mine at Bonanza Ledge phase two.
They will continue to work on the environmental review process for the Cariboo Gold Project, which will be a new underground mine that will basically be in the same location as the existing above-ground operation.
Callahan said it fluctuates, but there are about 240 people working at Bonanza Ledge right now.
“There are people working mining, there are people who are in the mill, there are people working in exploration and doing technical modeling of the cores that get drilled, people working on permitting, there is administration, there is maintenance, all sorts of people that make sure the mine continues to run and operate and looks after the staff.”
He added the number will grow once the new mine is up and running.
“459 jobs between Bonanza Ledge and QR. The mining operation takes place at Bonanza Ledge and the milling of the ore takes place at QR. These are good jobs. The average wage is around 73 thousand dollars.  And we’re estimating that it will create about five billion dollars to British Columbians over the course of the mine life.”
Callahan said the existing Bonanza Ledge project is expected to last for another 18 months or so, while the new underground mine has a life expectancy of around 16 years.
He added they hope to be through the environmental review process in the next year.
“The Cariboo Gold Project right now, we’ve submitted a significant amount of paperwork to the technical advisory committees. We’re working through the comments that have come in from the public, and we’re working towards a certificate for the project in Q-3 of 2022, so sort of summer into fall of 2022.”
Callahan said the pre-construction, construction phase of the new mine would be about three years, and then the operational years would go from 2023 to 2038 with remediation after that.
He added the workforce during construction is expected to be around 273.
In the meantime, Callahan said the expansion of Bonanza Ledge phase two and the permitting of the Cariboo Gold Project is also going to allow Osisko to continue to make investments in the community.
“Earlier this year we were very pleased that we could help our neighbours in the tourism sector, particularly at historic Barkerville, with support in what was a challenging year because of COVID. We take these sorts of investments in the community very seriously, and we look forward to continue to invest in the community throughout the life of the project.”
Files from George Henderson, MyCaribooNow
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