U.S. Gold Corp. (NASDAQ: USAU) subsidiary Gold King Corp received acceptance from the Director of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) for a previously submitted reclamation bond for its CK Gold Project.
Announced on Thursday, this bond represents two of the three conditions associated with the company’s recently granted surface gold mine permit for the project.
Under WDEQ statutes, U.S. Gold Corp. posted a USD$5.1 million Mine Reclamation Bond to the state to cover the first phase of operational disturbance. It also submitted the bond details to WDEQ on April 29, 2024, and received formal acceptance on May 31, 2024.
A reclamation bond is a financial guarantee required by regulatory authorities to ensure that mining companies restore the land they disturb during mining operations. This bond covers the costs of environmental reclamation, including soil stabilization, revegetation, and the removal of mining infrastructure, to prevent long-term environmental damage.
George Bee, president, CEO, and director of U.S. Gold, said that this progress marks a major milestone as the company advances towards development. The final requirement, obtaining the air quality permit, is expected soon.
The permit application has undergone a thorough review and is now with the WDEQ Air Quality Division for the final steps before approval. Additionally, U.S. Gold anticipates receiving unconditional approval of the mine operating plan by mid-year, as previously projected.
“The application is with the WDEQ Air Quality Division following the remaining statutory steps prior to consideration for approval,” Bee said. “We remain on track to receive unconditional approval of the Mine Operating Plan in hand, around mid-year, as per prior guidance.”
Read more: U.S. Gold Corp acquires environmental quality permit in Wyoming
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The CK Gold Project continues to advance
In 2020, the company shifted from solely exploring its highly promising assets in Nevada and Idaho to developing the CK Gold Project. It wasn’t until August of that year that the company’s management started developing the project, which had been inactive for years.
Despite multiple explorations and some underground mining about a century ago, the last study on the project was a 2012 preliminary economic assessment by Mine Development Associates Inc.
“The CK Gold Project continues to advance with the major permitting almost complete,” Luke Norman, executive chairman of U.S. Gold, said.
“The U.S. Gold team is finalizing updates to project economic forecasts, taking into consideration updates to pricing on both the cost and revenue sides of the equation.”
Norman continued by saying that the company anticipates this gold and copper project positioned to take advantage of rising commodity prices will be lucrative for its investors.
The next step is getting back to work on the prefeasibility study with an aim towards completing the feasibility study. The three permits are acting as stepping stones towards this aim.
The company gave the feasibility study work contract to Samuel Engineering Inc. in April 2022, but the project was suspended in March 2023. The suspension was due to three reasons: avoiding a “stale-dated” study in relation to the permit approval timeframe, disruptions in price and supply following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to incorporate changes from WDEQ’s review of the CK Gold Project.
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