St Barbara’s 100,000 oz Nova Scotia gold hub gets green light

Australia’s St Barbara (ASX: SBM) has advanced plans for its Nova Scotia gold development after Canada’s impact assessment regulator accepted the initial project description for the proposed 15-Mile Processing Hub, launching the formal permitting process.

The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada has completed its conformity review of the Initial Project Description and will now release the filing for a 20-day public comment period and consultation with First Nation communities before deciding whether a full federal impact assessment is required.

The submission aligns with a recent cooperation agreement between Ottawa and Nova Scotia aimed at delivering a “one project, one review” process.

“This submission marks a major milestone in advancing the 15-Mile Processing Hub Project to approval,” managing director and CEO Andrew Strelein said. “It reflects nearly three years of work to redesign and strengthen the project to incorporate and address feedback received from regulators, local communities and Mi’kmaq communities, resulting in a project that is both more acceptable and more beneficial for the communities.”

The project would redevelop three historic mining sites in Nova Scotia and establish a central processing hub capable of treating three million tonnes of ore annually. A prefeasibility study released earlier this year outlined an operation producing more than 100,000 oz. of gold a year over an initial mine life exceeding 11 years based on proven and probable reserves.

Redesign

The hub would process ore from the 15-Mile, Old Austen and Old Mitchell mines, replacing earlier concepts that contemplated multiple processing facilities. St Barbara said the redesign incorporates feedback from First Nation communities, regulators, environmental experts and local stakeholders while drawing on a decade of environmental studies and three years of engineering work.

According to the company, the revised design reduces land disturbance at the 15-Mile site by about 23%, cuts disturbance at Old Austen by roughly 43% and lowers impacts at Old Mitchell by approximately 55%.

The redesign also eliminates several previously proposed roads and processing facilities, reduces wetland and watershed impacts, and includes remediation of historic mining areas affected by elevated mercury and arsenic levels.

The project is expected to generate an estimated C$5 billion in economic activity across construction, operations and closure. St Barbara estimates the development would create about 1,386 construction jobs and roughly 740 long-term operating positions in rural Nova Scotia.

The filing marks the first step in a broader permitting process that will include Nova Scotia’s Environmental Assessment Registration Document and a range of provincial and federal approvals. 

St Barbara plans to submit the environmental assessment documentation in the third quarter of fiscal 2027 while advancing a feasibility study in parallel.