Permitting delays impact British Columbia projects valued at C$38 billion, AME says
British Columbia's exploration sector has over 60 critical mineral projects waiting for permits.
Astur Gold’s Salave gold project in northern Spain got a boost last week when National Bank initiated coverage on the Vancouver-based junior explorer.
“With a renewed development approach, improved community support and a region and province in need of industry, we believe Salave is much better positioned to move forward to production than under previous owners,” said National Bank. “We expect that Astur’s discount to its peers will diminish as government support is shown for the project, which we believe could happen through a number of events over the next six months,” said the bank, which is targetting a 12-month share price of $3.30.”
Astur Gold (TSX-V:AST) was up 6.48% to close at $2.30 Monday on the Toronto venture exchange.
Astur Gold acquired the Salave deposit from Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN) in 2010, paying 500,000 euros for the 433-hectare property.
Since then Astur Gold has released a prelimary economic assessment on the Salave property and acquired additional concessions, bringing the total mineral rights owned by the company to 3,198 hectares.
Salave has a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate containing 1,68 million ounces of gold grading 2.92 g/t Au in the measured & indicated category (2.15 million tonnes grading 3.88 g/t Au measured and 15.79 million tonnes grading 2.79 g/t Au indicated) with an additional 338,000 ounces of gold in the inferred category (3.77 million tonnes grading 2.8 g/t Au).
The PEA examined six different scenarios involving an open pit or combination open pit/ underground operation, as well as two options for processing the gold ore: bio-oxidation or pressure oxidation.
The Salave deposit, part of a gold belt stretching across the top of northern Spain, was first mined by the Romans 2,000 years ago when Emperor Augustus introduced the Roman gold standard, the aureus.
The imprints of Roman mining can still be seen throughout Asturias, where hundreds of mine sites are known to exist. Hydraulic systems were used to remove the overburden and mine the gold-bearing rocks, and historians estimate that 600 million cubic metres of alluvial and hard rock was mined, with 6.2 million ounces of gold exploited, through 300 years of operation.
Image of drilling at the Salave deposit, northern Spain, courtesy of Astur Gold
Listen to a MINING.com podcast with Astur Gold CEO Cary Pinkowski
