Mine developer waiting on provincial permits.

• Position: Mining

The head of a White River-area gold mine isn't pleased that the inaugural start of production is being delayed until year's end while the company waits on the province for the last of its operating permits.

Back in May, Harte Gold was targeting July as the beginning of production at its Sugar Zone underground gold mine, 25 kilometres north of White River.

The start date is now being pushed to the fourth quarter of this year.

In a progress report, Harte said on Aug. 8 that four permits remain outstanding before operations can begin. The company expects to receive them all by September.

No issues are expected to be raised by the various provincial ministries they were working with, the company said.

"While we are disappointed with the historic delays to permitting, we have made adjustments to the construction and mining schedules that allow us to continue toward our stated commercial production target," said company president-CEO Stephen Roman in a statement.

Over the years, during the early development phase of the Sugar Zone project, Roman said they've worked closely with the various ministries to obtain permits for an access road, mill and hydro line construction, a tailings facility, exploration and bulk sampling, and now commercial production.

"In 2016, the company made a decision to start construction based on the permits received, in an effort to streamline multiple work streams and fast-track to commercial production. At that time, the Crown indicated full permits would be issued in June, 2018.

"We are disappointed the target date has moved; however, we have the full support of our proximal First Nation, Pic Mobert, the Town of White River and all communities surrounding the Sugar Zone Mine. We are actively engaged with the respective ministries to complete the permitting process."

Nevertheless, the company reports that good...