The BLM will review the Plan for completeness, which is expected to take 30 days, and will subsequently provide the Company with comments, if any
Paramount Gold Nevada submits mine plan of operation to Federal Bureau of Land Management (Credit: Khusen Rustamov from Pixabay)
Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. (NYSE American: PZG) (“Paramount”) (the “Company”) announced today it has submitted its Plan of Operation (the ”Plan”) to the Federal Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) outlining the Company’s plans to build and operate the proposed Grassy Mountain underground gold mine located in Malheur County, eastern Oregon. The project’s processing facilities and tailing storage would be located on Federal Land.
The BLM will review the Plan for completeness, which is expected to take 30 days, and will subsequently provide the Company with comments, if any. The BLM has previously reviewed 19 of the baseline data reports (“BDRs”) and their requests for clarifications have all been addressed. The BLM will register a Notice of Intent (the ”Notice”) in the Federal Register once the application is deemed complete. The Notice initiates the Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) process under the National Environmental Policy Act. The BLM has selected HDR Inc. to prepare and complete the EIS, a process which is expected to take 12 months.
Paramount President and COO Glen Van Treek stated: “Submitting the Plan of Operation kicks off the final phase in the permitting process, bringing us another step closer to having all the regulatory approvals to operate Grassy Mountain.”
The permitting of Grassy Mountain requires County, State and Federal permits. To date, the Company has received all County permits. The State permitting process was initiated with Paramount’s submission of the Consolidated Permit Application (the “CPA”) on November 18, 2019. Under Oregon law, the State has 90 days to determine if the Application is complete. When the CPA is deemed complete, the State will issue a notice to proceed and will have 225 days to review the CPA and issue draft permits. The State then has a maximum of 140 days to complete its public consultation process and issue final permits. The submission of the Plan of Operation begins the federal permitting process as noted above.
State Permitting Update
The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (“DOGAMI”) and cooperating agencies have completed their initial review of the CPA submitted last November. As part of this process, the permitting agencies have provided Paramount with a list of supplemental information and recommendations required to submit a modified CPA. Paramount, the DOGAMI and the permitting agencies will continue to work together to discuss the additional information requested, ensuring the submission of a complete modified CPA which will trigger the 225 day maximum permit evaluation process, upon which draft permits are issued. Paramount is pleased with the support and transparency afforded by the permitting agencies and expects to submit a completed modified CPA in the second quarter of 2020.
Paramount’s CEO, Rachel Goldman stated: “Everything is proceeding on time and within the process as defined by the regulations. We are confident that the ongoing collaboration of the regulators will enable us to address the additional State requirements in a timely fashion and maintain our momentum in permitting Grassy Mountain”.
Source: Company Press Release