Project - Overview
Casino Mining Corporation is developing the proposed Casino Project; a copper, gold, molybdenum and silver deposit, located approximately 300 km northwest of Whitehorse; the Yukon’s capital city. It ranks among the largest copper-gold deposits in Canada. The proposed Project is currently in the environmental assessment review process.
The proposed Casino Project mine site and a portion of the access road are located within the traditional territory of Selkirk First Nation. A portion of the access road is located within the traditional territory of Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation, and Casino’s proposed water supply pipeline is located within the traditional territory of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. Kluane First Nation’s traditional territory is located downstream of the proposed mine and the Project is within the asserted traditional territory of the White River First Nation.
Casino is proposing a conventional single-line SAG mill circuit (Semi-Autogenous Ball Mill Crusher, or SABC) followed by conventional flotation to produce concentrate for sale. In addition to the concentrator, a separate carbon-in-column facility will recover precious metals from heap leached oxide ore. The Project is anticipated to produce approximately 6.95 million ounces of gold, 36.09 million ounces of silver, 4.27 billion pounds of copper and 346 million pounds of molybdenum over the 27-year life of the mine and will significantly contribute to the Yukon’s, and to Canada’s and the world’s, transition to a greener economy.
The proposed Project will require the construction of a power plant and will generate its own electrical power using LNG to fuel the generator drivers.
The Casino Property has several routes of access including by the Yukon River and by air, winter roads and existing trails. A network of paved highways connects the region to Whitehorse, to the rest of Canada and to tidewater at the Port of Skagway, Alaska. Paved roads to the Property currently exist to Carmacks, Yukon. A new all-weather, gravel road will be constructed by Casino to connect the Project site to Carmacks via the existing Freegold Road. This new access road will, in general, follow the existing Casino Trail, which will be upgraded to support trucking from Carmacks to Casino.
In September 2023, the Carmacks Bypass Project; the first section of the proposed Casino Project access road was completed ahead of schedule.
The main fresh water supply will be supplied from the Yukon River.
Since Western Copper and Gold Corp. acquired the wholly-owned Casino Property in 2008, the Casino team has applied a measured and responsible approach to preparing its environmental and socio-economic assessment proposal. In February 2016, the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) Executive Committee referred the proposed Casino Project to a Panel Review; the first in the territory’s history. YESAB’s Panel Review is the highest level of environmental assessment in the Yukon.
Following the YESAB Panel Review process, Casino can secure the licensing and permitting required in order to construct, operate and then close and reclaim the mine; including a Quartz Mining License from the Government of Yukon and a Water Use License from the Yukon Water Board.