The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen will provide a letter of support for Hudbay Minerals Inc.鈥檚 New Ingerbelle Expansion Project at the Copper Mountain Mine near Princeton.
The letter will be sent to Premier David Eby and Jagrup Brar, Minister of Mining and Critical Materials.
The mine, south of Princeton, is an open-pit mine. It has a plant with a capacity of 45,000 tonnes a day to produce copper concentrates with gold and silver credits.
The mine employs more than 800 people in and near Princeton and supports 2,600 jobs provincewide, generating close to $250 million in wages each year.
The mine says the expansion project will provide around 10 more years of life to the mine.
Princeton mayor Spencer Coyne said the letter is an important step in the mine expansion project.
鈥淭his is a letter of support to get the process moving,鈥� he said at the regional district board meeting. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been going on for years. We just want to see some movement.鈥�
The letter will also be posted on the regional district鈥檚 website, under board correspondence.