Foran Mining Corporation has achieved a major milestone for its McIlvenna Bay Project in Saskatchewan. Foran is planning to develop a copper, zinc, gold, and silver mine at McIlvenna Bay, and the project recently secured Ministerial Approval under the province’s Environmental Assessment Act.
The Ministerial Approval concludes the Environmental Impact Assessment process for the project, enabling the company to advance the project into the permitting phase to secure necessary approvals to construct and operate the mine.
Stantec, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering, completed an assessment of the project’s effects on groundwater quantity and quality. The modeling examined groundwater levels and groundwater discharge to surface water features. It also looked at impacts of potential mine seepage on groundwater. Stantec continues to provide environmental assessment services to Foran as the project progresses into the final design and construction phases.
“We’re proud to be part of a critical minerals project that has achieved this key milestone in the provincial environmental assessment process,” said Michelle Fraser, Stantec’s water resources technical discipline leader in Canada. “Our experts have deep experience in the mining environmental assessment process and our team is providing the technical expertise to advance this project through the process.”
McIlvenna Bay is a rich mineral deposit that is part of the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt that has been producing minerals for 100 years. McIlvenna Bay is located about 65 kilometers west of Flin Flon, Manitoba, and is the largest undeveloped deposit in the region.
“Stantec has been an invaluable partner during the groundwater modeling and assessment process, through feasibility and the environmental impact assessment,” said Kirsten Ketilson, Foran’s ESG director. “Their expertise has proven to be an indispensable asset to our team. We deeply appreciate Stantec’s contributions and commitment to excellence on groundwater and their support for the McIlvenna Bay Project, which is dedicated to producing critical minerals that play a vital role in a decarbonized society.”
Scott Moe, Saskatchewan’s premier, recently praised Foran in a news release for achieving the environmental assessment milestone and called the McIlvenna Bay project “a positive step towards increasing employment in our northern Indigenous communities and sustainably producing new critical minerals like copper in our province.”
Stantec has an abundance of environmental assessment experience for mining projects across Canada. The firm led the Greenstone Gold Mine (GGM) Hardrock Project through a joint provincial-federal environmental assessment process, and continues to work with GGM through the permitting and approvals process. The company also led and coordinated the environmental assessment for Generation PGM’s Marathon Palladium-Copper Project, the first mine in Ontario to receive approval through a Joint Review Panel process. Recently, Stantec was selected by First Mining Gold (FMG) to lead the environmental baseline program for FMG’s proposed Duparquet Gold Project in Quebec.
Featured image credit: Stantec.
