Western Copper and Gold outlines timeline and transport options for Casino project

Western Copper and Gold representatives detailed the scope, permitting timeline and transportation options for the proposed Casino copper–gold–molybdenum mine in west-central Yukon during the Jan. 14 Ports and Harbors Advisory Board meeting in Skagway.

Sheena Shaw, vice president of environmental and community affairs for Western Copper and Gold, said the company expects a 4‑year construction period and a 27‑year operating life. "The cost to build the project is $3,600,000,000," Shaw said. She described an estimated construction workforce of about 1,400 and an operations workforce of "about 600 or 700 employees." Shaw said the project would require a new approximately 200‑kilometer road connecting the Freegold Road to the deposit and a power solution; the current design under assessment is a 200‑megawatt LNG‑fired plant with an expected steady draw around 30 megawatts for the mill.

The company is in Yukon’s panel review stage of environmental assessment, a level of review Western Copper and Gold described as unprecedented in that jurisdiction. Shaw said the firm plans to submit its environmental statement in summer 2025 and estimated a panel decision in late 2027 under the company’s timeline assumptions, but cautioned the schedule does not account for potential court…