Generation Mining is itching closer toward making a final construction decision on its Marathon copper-palladium mine project near the north shore of Lake Superior.
The Toronto mine developer said March 11 it’s finally pocketed three important provincial permits from the natural resources ministry that are key to moving ahead with its proposed open-pit mine, valued at $1.16 billion.
The permits come under the Lakes and River Improvement Act (LRIA) that cover infrastructure related to water management at the project site located 10 kilometres north of the town of Marathon.
Still, there remains one outstanding permit to land. The provincial environment ministry has to issue an approval regarding the discharge of water from the site, known as an Environmental Compliance Approval – Industrial Sewage Works (ESA-ISW). The company expects that to arrive in the coming months.
“These further LRIA approvals from the government of Ontario demonstrate the continued advances we are making to bring the Marathon Project to fruition,” said Gen Mining president-CEO Jamie Levy in a statement.
“We remain committed to working closely with all regulatory bodies to ensure the highest standards of environmental and social responsibility in the construction and operation of the Marathon Project. With just one outstanding approval to be obtained from the Government of Ontario, we are closer than ever to being fully permitted and ready for construction.”
The deposit sits ln the eastern side of a large 26,000-hectare land package, just north of the Trans-Canada Highway. It’s Gen Mining’s only asset, purchased from Sibanye-Stillwater in 2019. The property has undergone an extensive federal and provincial environment review starting in the first decade of the 2000s. An earlier company, Marathon PGM, wanted to commence mining in 2011.
Government permitting and raising money for construction has taken longer than expected. Levy said in an interview last summer that he had hoped to turn sod for construction in early 2025.
The proposed mine packs enough copper and palladium for a mine life of 13 years.
During that span, it’s expected to produce more than 2.1 million ounces of palladium, 517 million pounds of copper, 485,000 ounces of platinum, 158.000 ounces of gold and more than 3.1 million ounces of silver.
The impact of the development will be huge for north shore with the promise of 1,200 construction jobs over an 18- to 24-month construction period and 400 full-time mining jobs.
The company is still on the hunt to raise financing for construction, which, at last count, was $961 million. So far, Gen Mining has lined up close to $800 million through a combination of debt financing and an investment by Wheaton Precious Metals.
