On February 3, 2025, British Columbia announced an ambitious $20 billion resource project fast-track initiative aimed at expediting permits for 18 major projects. Among the four mining projects named was Mount Milligan, a selection that warrants closer examination and raises serious questions about the substance behind this government initiative.

Mount Milligan’s Current Status

The facts about Mount Milligan paint a clear picture of a well-established, fully permitted operation with no obvious regulatory hurdles to overcome.

Mount Milligan has been operating as a conventional truck-shovel open-pit mine since achieving commercial production on February 18, 2014. Located approximately 155 kilometers northwest of Prince George, the operation continues to demonstrate robust performance. In 2023, the mine produced 154,000 ounces of gold and 62 million pounds of copper, with 2024 guidance suggesting even stronger performance at 180-200,000 ounces of gold and 55-65 million pounds of copper.

Most significantly, in February 2024, Centerra Gold announced an agreement with Royal Gold that extends the mine’s life to 2035. This extension is supported by substantial proven and probable reserves of 2.8 million ounces of gold and 961 million pounds of copper. The operation currently employs approximately 350 full-time workers and maintains a processing plant with a capacity of 60,000 tons per day.

The Permit Fast-Track Disconnect

Here’s where the government’s announcement becomes puzzling: Mount Milligan is fully permitted. It has no outstanding permits required. None pending. None needed. No reported permitting issues or delays. Nothing to “fast-track.”

This fundamental disconnect raises an obvious question: Why include a fully permitted, operating mine in an initiative specifically designed to accelerate permit processing?

The situation becomes particularly noteworthy when considering the opportunity cost. Resources allocated to “fast-tracking” permits for a fully permitted operation could potentially be better directed toward projects actually facing permitting challenges or delays.

Reading Between the Lines: Policy Substance vs. Political Theater

The implications of this contradiction leave us with two possible explanations, neither of which inspires confidence in the government’s $20 billion announcement.

The first possibility is incompetence: The provincial government failed to perform even basic due diligence when selecting projects for this initiative. The most rudimentary research would reveal Mount Milligan’s operational status and permit situation. The fact that a fully permitted, operating mine with no outstanding permit requirements made it onto a very short list of projects for permit acceleration suggests either a stunning lack of homework or a fundamental misunderstanding of the province’s mining sector.

The alternative explanation is perhaps more concerning: this is primarily a public relations exercise. The inclusion of Mount Milligan – a successful, operating mine with strong production numbers – helps pad the initiative’s impressive “$20 billion” headline figure while requiring no actual work or changes from the government. This interpretation suggests the initiative may be more about being seen to take action in response to U.S. trade pressures than about implementing meaningful improvements to BC’s permitting process.

Further supporting this interpretation is the initiative’s heavy emphasis on BC Hydro clean energy projects – 11 of the 18 projects – which already fall under established government processes. Combined with the inclusion of fully permitted operations like Mount Milligan, this composition suggests a program designed more for optics than impact.

Questions Requiring Answers

This situation raises several critical questions that deserve immediate attention from policy makers:

• What specific criteria were used to select projects for this initiative?
• How does the government define “fast-tracking” in the context of fully permitted operations?
• What measurable outcomes are expected from including Mount Milligan in this initiative?
• How will success be evaluated for projects that require no permit acceleration?

Until these questions are answered, the inclusion of Mount Milligan in this fast-track initiative suggests that this $20 billion announcement may be more about generating headlines than delivering genuine improvements to BC’s resource development process.

The timing and context of the announcement – presented as a bold response to U.S. trade pressures – adds another layer to this analysis. If the goal was to demonstrate decisive action to international audiences and markets, the inclusion of an already-successful operation like Mount Milligan helps tell that story, regardless of whether its inclusion makes any practical sense.

This situation presents a valuable case study in the gap between policy announcements and substantive action. While accelerating resource project permitting is a worthy goal, the inclusion of projects that need no permit acceleration raises fundamental questions about whether this initiative represents genuine regulatory reform or merely political theater.

Conclusion

The inclusion of Mount Milligan in BC’s permit fast-track initiative raises serious concerns about the substance behind this $20 billion announcement. While accelerating resource project permitting is a worthy goal for British Columbia, the selection of a fully permitted, successfully operating mine – one that secured its operational future through 2035 a year ago – suggests this initiative may prioritize headlines over meaningful regulatory reform.

I would welcome any comments or corrections from Centerra Gold regarding my analysis of Mount Milligan’s permit status and operational conditions. If there are pending permits or regulatory requirements that would benefit from this fast-track initiative, I would be eager to update this analysis accordingly.