Taseko Mines Ltd. has been granted a five-year extension to its environmental assessment certificate for its Prosperity Mine project, located 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake.

"The decision was made after considering a request from Taseko Mines Ltd," the Ministry of Environment said in a press release.

On Jan. 14, 2010 Taseko was granted an environmental assessment certificate to build an open-pit mine capable of producing 70,000 tonnes of ore per day over 20 years.

One condition of the certificate is that the project must be substantially started within five years or the certificate expires.

The certificate holder may request a one-time-only extension of up to five years.

In response to Taseko's request for an extension, the environmental assessment office consulted with provincial government agencies and First Nations to consider all relevant factors, including:

* Any potential adverse effects or new information that may have been identified since the environmental assessment certificate was initially issued.

* Proposed changes to the project.

* New policies, legislation or guidelines.

* Adverse economic or social effects that could result from not extending the certificate.

* The need for new or revised mitigation measures.

* Whether the certificate holder was unable to substantially start the project due to circumstances outside their control.

Taseko's certificate has been extended until Jan. 14, 2020.

A record of the factors that the minister considered in making her decision can be found in the Reasons for Minister's Decision at: http://tinyurl.com/klokygw.

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Photo: Fish Lake. Joe Foy.