The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Enters final stretch of permitting for silver-rich Yukon mine North of 60 Mining News – January 13, 2023
After considering input from Yukon First Nations and other stakeholders, BMC Minerals has submitted a water license permit application that has been approved for a public comment period that began on Jan. 6.
BMC Minerals Ltd. Jan. 9 announced that the Yukon Water Board has deemed its application for a Type A Water License for its proposed ABM Mine adequate to enter the public comment period of the licensing process.
The water license is of the two major permits ABM will need to develop and operate a mining operation at the silver-dominant polymetallic Kudz Ze Kayah project in southeastern Yukon
Under a feasibility study completed in 2019 and updated in 2020, the ABM Mine is expected to average 235 million pounds of zinc, 32 million lb of copper, 56 million lb of lead, 7.8 million ounces of silver and 56,500 oz of gold annually, over an initial nine years of mining.
The mine detailed in this study is based on 15.7 million metric tons of probable reserves averaging 5.8% (915,000 metric tons) zinc, 0.9% (135,800 metric tons) copper, 1.7% (265,700 metric tons) lead, 138 grams per metric ton (69.5 million ounces) silver and 1.3 g/t (666,000 oz) gold.
These reserves are found in ABM, one of several base and precious metal-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits identified in the KZK district, on properties either owned or optioned by BMC Minerals.
The feasibility study envisions a 2-million-metric-ton-per-year operation that mines ore both from an open pit and underground.
Following roughly four years of environmental and socioeconomic screening under the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board process, BMC received government approval in mid-2022 to advance to the regulatory phase.
Now, the Yukon Water Board has found the permit application that came out of that process ready for public review.
"We look forward to working through the public consultation period and answering any additional questions the Yukon Water Board may deem relevant from that step," said BMC Minerals President Scott Donaldson.
"As part of the applications, we also submitted operating plans detailing how BMC will manage our activities in the years to come. In development of these plans over the past several years, we considered and incorporated input received inside and outside of the YESAB process, from Kaska, Elders, NGOs, governments, and other Yukoners," he added. "We thank the parties that have taken the time to provide this valuable input and your assistance has not only increased our knowledge, it has improved our plans."
The public comment period for BMC's ABM water license permit began on Jan. 6 and runs until Feb. 3.
BMC hopes to receive the Type A Water License for its proposed ABM Mine later this year.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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