Polish mining giant KGHM has opened an office in downtown Kamloops further fueling speculation that the Ajax mine project, south of Aberdeen, could be resurfacing.

KGHM owns 80 per cent of the project, while the other 20 per cent is owned by Vancouver-based Abacus Mining and Exploration, which indicated that the office opened up in the past two weeks.

No one was at the office located at 201-242 Victoria St. today when NL News stopped by, but there was a sign lying against a wall inside the door.

The office announcement comes two months after a new project superintendent – Michael Wypych – was hired to engage the City of Kamloops, local Indigenous bands, and other levels of government on reviving plans for the 2 km wide open-pit copper and gold mine near Jacko Lake.

Wypych’s hiring was a move which surprised Kamloops city councillor, Denis Walsh.

“More so on the timing, I thought it was sooner or later they were going to come back because there’s copper and gold in those hills,” Walsh told NL News in September. “But the concern is the city [as] we approved an expansion up in Aberdeen that I think was recognizing the fact that the Ajax Mine was never going to go in.”

Wypych was previously involved with planning for the Ajax Mine, before an environmental plan was rejected in December of 2017 by the provincial government, and in January 2018 by the federal government. Both the city of Kamloops and Tk’emlups te Secwepemc are also opposed to the project.

“Despite this setback, KGHM in consultation with Abacus has continued to work to advance the project, including evaluating various strategies geared toward potentially resubmitting the environmental application,” Abacus said, in a statement.

KGHM expects an average annual production of 53,000 tonnes of copper and 114,000 ounces of gold over the expected 19 year lifespan of the Ajax mine.