Hudbay Minerals, the 70 per cent owner and operator of the Reed copper project near Flin Flon, has started preliminary production at the project after it received an Environment Act licence in late September.
The licence allows Hudbay to operate the 1,300-tonne-per-day underground copper mine and its supporting infrastructure.
In September Hudbay extracted and milled a bulk sample at its Flin Flon concentrator.
Full production is expected to start during the first half of 2014 and the project has remained within its estimated $72 million budget, according to the company.
Hudbay's 30 per cent joint-venture partner, Vancouver-based VMS Ventures, says the licence confirmed the care and diligence taken by Hudbay in moving the project forward within mandated environmental guidelines.
Not everyone is pleased.
The Wilderness Committee opposes the mine because of its proximity to the habitat of woodland caribou, which is a provincially and federally protected species.
"It is hard news to take," said Eric Reder, the Wilderness Committee's Manitoba campaign director.
The Reed Mine is located about 80 kilometres west-southwest of Snow Lake on the southern side of Highway 39. The mine is expected to be in production for approximately five years, during which time 2.16 million tonnes of copper ore will be extracted and then trucked to and processed in Flin Flon, according to a project overview released by Hudbay.
At full production, the mine will provide 88 jobs, the company says.
from Western Investor November 2013
