Mining News: Northern Neighbors: Partners hit brakes on Schaft Creek development

Copper Fox Metals Inc. March 30 said the Schaft Creek Joint Venture – Copper Fox (25 percent) and Teck Resources Ltd. (75 percent) have budgeted C$700,000 for the 2016 work program at the Schaft Creek project in northwestern British Colombia. One of the primary focuses of this program will be to update the resource model for the Schaft Creek deposit with an emphasis on gaining a better understanding of the precious metals content of the deposit. The JV also will continue environmental monitoring of the project; permitting; and continued consultation with the Tahltan First Nations on social and cultural matters. “The work planned for 2016 is an extension of the past three years of work at Schaft Creek and will provide the Schaft Creek Joint Venture with a better understanding of the project,” said Copper Fox CEO Elmer Stewart. The joint venture has voluntarily withdrawn the Schaft Creek project from the Environmental Assessment process. Additionally, the JV has determined that BC Hydro’s current planning for overall transmission system upgrades would be facilitated in the shorter term by not including the specific load profile of the Schaft Creek project, which is still under evaluation. The project has therefore agreed to be removed from the interconnection queue, and it is expected that re-initiation of the load interconnection process in the future will not be an impediment to the project.

- Shane Lasley