KGHM Ajax Mining Inc. external affairs manager Yves Lacasse.
(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
December 22, 2015 - 7:23 AM
KAMLOOPS - The application was expected to be officially submitted to the province in the first week of January, but now the company behind the proposed Ajax Mine says it will be in ‘no later than the end of January.'
With the holiday season underway, the company says it wants to give all parties more time to have the ‘sufficient ability to accept the submission’, especially local First Nations, which have specifically requested more time to prepare for the review.
“There is a tremendous amount of work required to complete and submit a document such as this,” spokesperson Yves Lacasse says in a statement. “With the Christmas season soon here, senior management decided it was better to give all parties the time they need to be ready to start the work of reviewing this comprehensive document.”
The Environmental Assessment Office recently accepted the requirements for the proposed mine as complete, allowing the company to move forward with a full submission of its application. Once the application is in and the province has assessed it as complete, the project will move on to the review and public comment period.
The city and KGHM plan on hosting public information sessions during this time. The city has also hired consultants to review the application and KGHM will be offering plain language summaries of the 18,000-page document so the public can better understand the application.
If approved, the proposed Ajax Mine will be located southwest of the city. The open-pit copper and gold mine is expected to operate for more than 20 years and employ hundreds of people over its lifetime.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015