The assessment of the proposed Casino mine project has been put on hold for six months.

The decision was announced last week by the executive committee of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board following a request to do so from the Casino Mining Corp.

As a result of the decision, a legal action filed against the company and the assessment board by the Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation is also on hold for now, Gregory McDade, the First Nation's lawyer, confirmed this morning.

Little Salmon-Carmacks filed the action in the Yukon Supreme Court in early April, claiming the First Nation was not properly consulted on the project proposal.

McDade said the six months will provide the opportunity for the Casino Mine Corp. and the First Nation to carry out discussions to fulfill the company's duty to consult Little Salmon-Carmacks.

"Little Salmon-Carmacks is pleased that their treaty rights are going to be respected,” he said from his Vancouver office.

The Tr'ondek Hwech'in of Dawson City and the Selkirk First Nation sent letters to the assessment board supporting a decision to suspend the review for six months.

Casino is proposing the largest mining operation in the Yukon's history.

It's estimated the open-pit project and the construction of an access road would require $2.6 million in capital investment. The life of the mine is currently estimated at 22 years.

The company estimates the Casino project would produce 5.7 million ounces of gold during the life of the mine, along with 30.3 million ounces of silver, 3.6 billion pounds of copper and 325 million pounds of molybdenum.

Access will require improvements to the 83 kilometres of the existing Freegold Road, and 120 kilometres of new road.

The Casino project is designed to process 120,000 tonnes per day.

By comparison, the Minto Mine processes a little over 4,000 tonnes per day.