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Vancouver-based mining junior West Kirkland Mining (TSXV: WKM) announced Thursday that the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has accepted the company’s mine plan of operations (MPO) for its flagship Hasbrouck gold project in Nevada, and the Bureau will now commence analysis of the MPO under an Environmental Assessment (EA).
West Kirkland currently has a 75% interest in the Hasbrouck project, which consists of the Hasbrouck and Three Hills properties located on Highway 95 between Reno and Las Vegas. The first phase of the project is the Three Hills mine, which received a federal permit in November 2015.
The latest permitting decision pertains to the second phase Hasbrouck mine and follows a 28-month process involving multiple BLM specialists who analysed the MPO. Construction level drawings, plans and schedules have been developed for the project as part of the permitting process.
The BLM analyzes an MPO under either an Environmental Assessment (EA) if it deems the project will not significantly impact the environment, or under an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) if it deems there could be a significant impact on the environment.
BLM’s decision to analyze the MPO for the Hasbrouck mine under an EA presents a favorable project timeline to West Kirkland as opposed to the lengthier and more expensive EIS, and the company now expects to obtain a federal permit in Q2 2020.
A federal (BLM) permit for the Hasbrouck mine reduces project execution risk as a shovel-ready gold project in the US Southwest, the company stated.
In an independent pre-feasibility study completed for the Hasbrouck project in 2016, a sensitivity analysis at $1,500 gold resulted in an estimated after-tax IRR of 65% and a $200 million NPV.
2 Comments
Sandy McVey
Is the date correct on your note on our project: –
“West Kirkland wins favorable permitting decision for Nevada project”
Jackson Chen | March 5, 2020 | 11:50 am Exploration Markets Canada USA Gold
Amanda Stutt
Yes Sandy, we caught that and adjusted the date!