An international Chinese company with extensive experience in mining has been retained to advance the Carmacks Copper project, Copper North Mining has announced.

Copper North says in a press release issued last week that the Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy is one of the largest research companies in China with more than 700 engineers.

It will be responsible for designing a process to recover the copper, gold and silver as well as securing the equipment required from China, the company announced.

Copper North said it has also retained JDS Energy and Mining Inc. of British Columbia to look after the geotechnical, mining and earthworks for the project, working alongside Beijing General.

“I am pleased to announce the engagement of these two engineering groups to complete the new feasibility study and manage the construction of the Carmacks project as a very low cost copper-gold-silver producer,” company president Harlan Meade says in the release.

Meade could not be reached for further comment.

The Carmacks Copper proposal was the subject of great debate and legal action a few years ago.

After it had received a mining licence from the territorial government in 2009 following a positive recommendation from the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board, the Yukon Water Board refused to issue a water licence.

The water board found the company’s proposal to extract copper from the raw ore using a sulphuric acid heap leach amounted to “unproven technology.”

The Western Copper Corp., the name of the company at the time, appealed to the Yukon Supreme Court with the support of the Yukon Chamber of Mines, but Justice Ron Veale upheld the water board’s decision.

Constant objections to the method of recovering copper using a sulphuric acid heap leach were raised by the Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation, the Selkirk First Nation and the Yukon Conservation Society. They all argued the method amounted to unproven technology, and that it would be a dangerous experiment if permitted to proceed.

The assessment board and the government, however, found the project should proceed with the condition that Western Copper demonstrate its processing method was sound once the open-pit project was in operation.

The water board disagreed with the experimental approach.

Copper North Mining said in its press release it has re-engineered the project design, which will now include the recovery of gold and silver, and not just copper.

“Metallurgical test work is progressing to confirm the optimal leach design and operating parameters for the leaching of copper followed by leaching of gold and silver,” says the press release.

“This work should be completed by year-end and establish the base for the new feasibility study which is targeted for completion in Q3 (third-quarter) 2015.”

Copper North also says discussions with JDS and Beijing General indicate there is a significant opportunity to reduce capital construction and operating costs.

JDS also brings a familiarity with construction of the nearby Minto open pit mine, which will be an asset in the design and construction of the Carmacks Copper project, says the release.

The proposed open pit is 38 kilometres northwest of Carmacks.

Following the water board’s refusal, the Western Copper Corp. split into two companies: Copper North Mining, to look after the Carmacks Copper project, and Western Copper and Gold Corp., to spearhead the Casino open pit mine project.