I quess I should rephrase

The Toronto-based miner hopes to begin producing copper and nickel at its Eagle’s Nest project by 2018, but that depends on “a lot of things happening,” especially the road to the project, Coutts said yesterday in a telephone interview

As I read this I get that the reporter has put the 2018 in without Mr Coutts exact words in context because the itallics are around "a lot of things happening" meaning that the project will be by 2018 and a road is needed or no project. Not that the project will be producing in 2018 but as soon as a road is happening. I was not part of this conversation but do know how reporters make a writers opinion and how they use quotation marks to put what someone says as support for their opinion. So why is there no quotation marks around the 2018 as a professional writer should use.