Aris Mining Corporation finishes preparing Soto Norte impact assessment

Aris Mining Corporation TSEARIS NYSEARIS said on Wednesday it had completed preparation of an environmental and social impact assessment for Soto Norte, a Colombian gold-copper project with 4.6 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves. The proposed 3,500-tonne-per-day operation still needs an environmental licence before Aris can make a construction decision.

Aris's TSEARIS shares fell 1.7 per cent to C$24.77 at 4 p.m. EDT in Toronto on Sept. 30.

The company plans to present the assessment to communities in Matanza, Suratá and California, take comments and consider changes before filing the final document with its environmental licence application. The meetings are scheduled for October and precede submission of the final assessment and licence application.

Aris said Colombia's National Mining Agency approved Soto Norte's technical mine plan, while the environmental licence application still awaits submission. A prefeasibility study released Sept. 3, 2025 estimated US$625 million of initial capital and a 22-year initial mine life based on reserves.

The study used a US$2,600-an-ounce gold assumption and estimated after-tax net present value at US$2.7 billion. Its projected internal rate of return was 35.4 per cent.

The assessment evaluates potential environmental and social effects and proposes measures to prevent, manage and monitor them, according to Aris's Sept. 30 release. Aris said it would consider relevant community suggestions before submitting the final assessment.

The planned mill has capacity for 3,500 tonnes a day, including 750 tonnes reserved to process material bought from local miners. Aris said the plant is designed to make concentrates without cyanide or mercury.

Its Soto Norte project page describes a processing plan that would also provide water and tailings management for those miners. The company said it has formalized more than 3,550 miners at Segovia and Marmato, the operations behind its proposed local-miner plan for Soto Norte.

The Sept. 30 release projects average output from company-mined ore of about 203,000 ounces of gold a year over years one to 21. It forecasts roughly 263,000 ounces a year in years two to 10, excluding any additional attributable production from material purchased from local miners.

The company said the La Baja permanent reserve was revoked and the temporary reserve area's expiry reverted to March 4, 2027.

Aris also said the Santurbán Páramo delimitation process would continue under applicable constitutional, legal, technical, environmental and participatory requirements. Aris described those government actions as removing constraints on new mining authorizations and environmental licensing in the project area.

"Following receipt of the environmental license, we will be in a position to make a construction decision for the Project," chair and chief executive Neil Woodyer said in the Sept. 30 release.

Community meetings in Matanza, Suratá and California are scheduled for October.