The expansion of the Mount Milligan mine is leading to optimism for the future of industry in the region.

By Tommy Osborne

Mount Milligan

$400 million Mount Milligan expansion could lead to even greater things for the region

Jan 21, 2026 | 5:10 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Premier David Eby held a press conference at the Natural Resources Forum to discuss a huge expansion of the Mount Milligan mine, which is projected to bring up to $400 million in capital spending to Northern B.C.

“It means hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy, resources for the province to be able to deliver health care, education, and other critical services in the province,” Eby said.

“We will be the economic engine of the new economy that we are building here as Canadians in these challenging times. We will leverage our access to the Pacific to the growing markets there and the diversity of markets to do that,” he continued.

The expansions will support the 574 jobs connected to the mine and ramp up production by an additional 6500 tonnes of ore a day. It will also extend the life of the operation to 2035, but Centerra Gold’s President and CEO Paul Tomory believes the mine will be around for a lot longer than that.

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“Hundreds of jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars are going to be invested in the local economy. Equally importantly, it sets the stage for further mine life extension beyond that, and that’s work that we’re gonna have to do over the coming years, but Mount Milligan, the ore body itself, has the potential for decades of mine life,” Tomory said.

“The confidence in B.C. mining is growing every day. We have actually, I would say, one of the best mining sectors in North America,” added B.C.’s Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals Jagrup Brar.

One aspect of the process that was highlighted throughout the press conference was the permitting process, which both Brar and Tomory were happy to say was a far quicker process than usual.

“We are here after ten months of one of the most efficient permitting processes that I’ve ever been involved within in my career, and I’ve operated all across the world, across the United States and Canada,” Tomory said.

“We run what we call the single application combined process, where all the ministries work together to eliminate any duplication they have in the process. That certainly reduces time without compromising the highest environmental standards we have and safety standards in the province of British Columbia,” Brar explained.

Cutting down the time it takes to access permits by more than half is a move Tomory was happy to celebrate, and there is hope this sets a precedent for future industry projects to create confidence in B.C. As far as Centerra Gold is concerned, there is no question B.C. is a good place to invest and grow industry.

“This permitting process and the success and the rapidity with which it took place gave us the confidence to release a study, which we did yesterday, on our intention to proceed with further engineering looking to a potential reopening of the Kemess Mine. This would be a mine of similar scale to Mount Milligan, copper, gold, feeding the critical metals industry, and it also has decades of mine life potential,” Tomory said.

“I would recommend to other jurisdictions to emulate what British Columbia just did with this permit and the transparency, the clarity, and the efficiency with which it was executed,” Tomory continued.

Brar adds he has optimism for the future of industry in the region and province as a whole, noting there is likely to be more announcements ahead for significant projects.

“We have, right now, close to a dozen projects in this area which could bring in roughly about $50 billion in investment and create 10,000 jobs for people, particularly at a time when the area is impacted heavily with the Trump tariffs,” Brar said.

The mining industry as a whole supports more than 40,000 jobs in the province, and B.C. contributes close to 50% of Canada’s total copper output.