Mexico’s proposed higher mining royalties could block nearly $7bn in investments
The Mexican government proposed raising mining royalties under the argument that metal prices have risen in recent years.
Toronto-based Minera Alamos (TSXV: MAI) announced today it has received a positive notification from the Mexican environmental authorities regarding the permit application for the development of the La Fortuna gold project in the northern Durango state.
The notification confirms the completion of the technical review phase of the company’s application for the change of land use to build mining and processing facilities. Once the company completes a series of payments, the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources would be able to issue the formal approval documentation for the project.
“The notice was received a little over a year following the completion of our strategic partnership with Osisko Gold Royalties and starts the transformation of the company from a junior explorer to a growing gold producer,” Darren Koningen, CEO of Minera Alamos, said in a media statement. “Our highly experienced Mexican technical team continues to demonstrate the ability to advance concurrently our full portfolio of late-stage gold development projects,” he added.
The new permits, which include provisions to let the company expand the project once resources are increased, allow Alamos to initiate applications for other state/local permits related to water use and explosives, which are required before starting commercial production.
La Fortuna gold project includes the historic La Fortuna mine together with the surrounding concessions, which total more than 6,200 hectares. The property is located in the northwestern corner of Durango, about 100 kilometres northeast of the city of Culiacan in the neighbouring Sinaloa state.
Initial development began in 1984 with the discovery of a gold-bearing oxidized outcrop. The mine was continuedly explored/exploited until the late-2000s, with numerous exploration surveys performed between 1991 and 2008. Such programs led to the development of a resource block model which produced a Measured and Indicated resource of 4,800,000 tonnes at 2.0 g/t gold (308,000 contained ounces) at a 0.50 g/t gold cutoff grade.
Minera Alamos also recently completed a PEA for the project which demonstrated an after-tax internal rate-of-return in excess of 90%, a rapid payback of capital of approximately one year and low production costs for an initial 50,000 oz (AuEq) per annum operation.
