North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Government of Yukon and the Ross River Dena Council First Nation March 3 announced an agreement in principle has been reached for roughly C$71 million in upgrades to the North Canol Road and the Robert Campbell Highway under the Yukon Resource Gateway Project, a C$247.8 million federal program that is upgrading more than 650 kilometers (400 miles) of roads in the Yukon.

Yukon is also contributing C$112.8 million to this road improvement project that will provide better access to some of the territory's most mineral-rich regions.

The North Canol Road provides the access road to Fireweed Zinc Ltd.'s district-scale Macmillan Pass zinc-lead-silver property and other mineral projects in eastern Yukon and the Robert Campbell Highway is part of the transportation route linking this mineral rich area to a shipping port.

The agreement between the Yukon and Ross River Dena Council outlines road upgrades, including bridge replacement and safety improvements on the North Canol Road and resurfacing of 59.5 kilometers (37 miles) of the Robert Campbell Highway.

"Our community has been in need of improvements to the North Canol and paving for the Campbell Highway for many years," said Ross River Dena Council Chief Jack Caesar. "We have some of Yukon's largest prospective mineral and remediation projects but we had been the only community in Yukon without a paved highway. This important project will finally see our members have a safe road to drive to and from work, a road that helps ensure we are connected to opportunity."

First Nations members and businesses are expected to have strong input and involvement in this C$71 million project.

"This agreement in principle with the Ross River Dena Council will provide valuable capacity and economic opportunities to the community and is a tremendous step forward for reconciliation," said Yukon Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources Ranj Pillai. "We look forward to finalizing this agreement and working together with the community to improve this critical infrastructure to enable mineral industry development."

The road upgrades are also expected to improve the economics of developing a mine at Fireweed Zinc's McMillan Pass project at the north end of the Canol Road.

Fireweed Zinc Ltd.

A preliminary economic assessment completed in 2018 outlined a 4,900-metric-ton-per-day mill at Macmillan Pass that would produce 3.4 billion lb of zinc, 1.9 billion lb of lead and 37.2 million oz of silver over an 18-year mine life.

Upgrading of the North Canol Road to accommodate the heavy truck traffic from hauling supplies to and mineral concentrates away from this envisioned mine was a major cost item in the PEA, comprising a full 25% of capital expenditures to develop the project.

"This announcement is a major step forward toward eventual mine development at Macmillan Pass," said Fireweed Zinc CEO Brandon Macdonald. "I want to thank the Yukon Government and the Ross River Dena Council for their efforts to get this agreement in principle done as well as their ongoing cooperation and support for our project over the years."

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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