The town of Kitsault, near Prince Rupert, B.C.Globe files
The effort to reopen the old Kitsault molybdenum mine northeast of Prince Rupert, B.C. has cleared another hurdle.
Officials have approved the details Avanti Mining must provide as part of a provincial and federal environmental assessment of the project.
Avanti president Craig Nelsen says the approval is a significant milestone in the assessment process and the firm hopes to submit its complete application in the next few months.
The approval incorporates the comments of First Nations and provincial, federal and local governments and provides a plan for public comments on the environmental assessment.
The mine stopped operating in 1982 when the price of molybdenum dropped and Avanti has said there is about 30-million tonnes of waste sitting on the surface of the open-pit mine.
A feasibility study for the mine shows there are about 232-million tonnes of proven or probable molybdenum at the site.