Vancouver-based Redfern Resources has given up on plans to build a controversial 160-kilometre road through the northern B.C. wilderness to service its Tulsequah mine on the Taku River.

Rather than building a road from Atlin south to Tulsequah, company president Terry Chandler told CBC News, they've decided it would be cheaper and easier to use a specially designed river barge and tugboat to supply the mine and transport the ore.

The Tulsequah mine on B.C.'s Taku River began operation in the early 1950s.

The new transportation proposal is part of the company's feasibility study for the zinc-copper-silver-gold mine, released Monday. 

Using an air-cushioned barge would save the company about $45 million, Chandler said. 

"It'll mean that the project will be quite robust, potentially able to provide benefits to the economy of the region for a longer time frame and at a higher level," he said.

As for the salmon in the river, Chandler said he does not think the barge system would have any negative effect.

Tulsequah mine owners say they'd rather use the Taku River than build a road to service the mine.
(CBC News)

He expects the new transportation plan will take about six months to go through any necessary environmental reviews.

The controversial road had been granted environmental permits but the Taku River Tlingits, based in Atlin, and environmental groups continued to oppose the road.

Chandler hopes to start construction at the mine site this summer and put it into production in late 2008.