Canadian Copper Inc. has purchased the shuttered Caribou Mine in northern New Brunswick, a deal the company and government hope will revive mining in the Bathurst region nearly four years after operations ceased.

The Ontario-based company completed the purchase Tuesday.

The Caribou Mine site, which is located about 55 kilometres west of Bathurst, includes a processing mill, tailings pond, mineral rights and permits.

Canadian Copper says it aims to use the Caribou mill to process copper, zinc, silver and lead extracted from a nearby open pit mine called Murray Brook, where gold was mined in the early ’90s.

The sale moves the Caribou’s care and maintenance costs off the province’s books. The government took control of the site in 2023 after Trevali Mining (New Brunswick) Ltd. went into receivership, spending about $14 million to maintain it.

Officials celebrate sale

Officials celebrated the sale at a news conference in Bathurst Tuesday.

“Today is indeed a [momentous] occasion, not just for the Bathurst area, but for the entire province of New Brunswick,” said John Herron, the province’s natural resources minister.

He spoke alongside federal, provincial, municipal and First Nations officials who said they hope it signals the resumption of mining activity in the region.

A file photo of the Caribou Mine, which is located about 55 kilometres southwest of Bathurst. (Trevali Mining Corp./Facebook)

Mines operated for decades in the region known as the Bathurst Mining Camp, including Caribou intermittently since the 1970s, but have since stopped.

Now, Canadian Copper hopes to revive the sector.

“When we started here we had one really overarching goal, and that was to see the Bathurst Mining Camp reemerge and be the national powerhouse it was once,” CEO Simon Quick said Tuesday.

He said the company has estimated it will cost $70 million to restart the mill and begin work at the Murray Brook site.

Members of the media were given a tour of the location Tuesday, where drill samples were being collected.

The Murray Brook plan still requires environmental approval. Canadian Copper earlier this month filed an environmental impact assessment for the project.

The company plans an open house in Bathurst on July 29.

Canadian Copper CEO Simon Quick spoke on Tuesday about the plans for the Caribou and Murray Brook mines. (Shane Magee/CBC)

About 40 to 60 people are expected to be employed for construction of the mine.

The documents say about 120 people are expected to be employed during operation over 14 years.

Blasting would be used, and the material hauled to the Caribou site for processing and then off-site for sale. Quick said the company hopes to begin work at Murray Brook in 2027, with processing in 2028.

He said the company is still looking to secure a buyer for the minerals.

The Caribou tailings pond has enough capacity for roughly three years of production. Any expansion would require a separate environmental assessment, the document says.

The sale was approved in June by a court in British Columbia overseeing receivership of Trevali and its parent company in Vancouver.

Pabineau First Nation Chief Terry Richardson, left; Bathurst Mayor Kim Chamberlain; and Canadian Copper CEO Simon Quick attended the announcement on Tuesday. (Shane Magee/CBC)

Court documents show the $6.2 million sale of Caribou will see the province receive $4 million.

Trevali’s financial collapse, in part tied to a fatal flood at a mine it owned in Africa, led to the halt of mining at Caribou in 2022 and termination of its employees.

The New Brunswick government took over care and control of the site in 2023. It estimated it would spend about $1 million per year on treatment of acidic water, maintenance of its tailings pond and keeping the underground mine “de-watered.”

The province hoped the spending would avoid environmental damage and allow a potential buyer to resume operations. A previous attempt to sell the site to Bathurst Metallic Corp. in 2024 failed.

The documents filed in court say the province was owed about $3 million related to the Caribou mine for unpaid leases and taxes.

The court-appointed receiver negotiated with the province, resulting in the government agreeing to support the sale.

A rock showing colouration, indicating minerals, which was shown to reporters during a tour of the Murray Brook site. (Shane Magee/CBC)

The terms of the sale call Canadian Copper to “assume all environmental liabilities associated with the mining assets” subject to an agreement negotiated with the province. 

Herron said the province hasn’t provided any subsidies to Canadian Copper. 

“This is a private sector-led initiative,” Herron said. 

Canadian Copper says it has a non-binding agreement with nearby Pabineau First Nation related to communication, job creation, contracts and other benefits. 

Pabineau Chief Terry Richardson, who spoke at the event Tuesday marking the sale, said he’s excited to see mining return to Pabineau’s traditional territory. 

“This is a great opportunity for First Nations on many fronts, not only contracting and employment, but there is an opportunity on the equity side,” Richardson said in an interview earlier this month.

Bathurst Mayor Kim Chamberlain also hopes to see more mining and economic activity in the region after mines like Caribou closed.

“We were resilient since the closing,” Chamberlain said. “The fact that it’s coming back, we have so many qualified people working in our area that does the fly-in, fly-out. Some of them would like to stay home. And then it’s going to bring other expertise.”