Cochise County, Arizona -- Excelsior Mining Corp. announced that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has issued an operating permit, the Class III Underground Injection Control (“UIC”) Area Permit, for the Gunnison Copper Project, located in Cochise County between Benson and Willcox in southeastern Arizona.
Excelsior Mining “The Copper Solution Company” is a mineral exploration and development company that is advancing the Gunnison Copper Project in Cochise County. The project is an advanced staged, low cost, environmentally friendly in-situ recovery copper extraction project.
Excelsior’s technical work on the Gunnison Copper Project is supervised by Stephen Twyerould, Fellow of AUSIMM, President & CEO of Excelsior and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Twyerould has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.
Twyerould said, “The completion of this key milestone brings us one step closer to initiating low-cost in-situ copper production at one of the most environmentally friendly and economically compelling mine sites in the United States. We look forward to continuing our work with all regulatory agencies and stakeholders as we head into the construction phase this summer.”
The EPA has issued Excelsior a UIC Permit with an effective date of August 1, 2018. Once effective, the UIC Permit (along with the Aquifer Protection Permit), requires the Company to be in compliance with protective permit conditions prior to the initiation of production activities. The UIC Permit is good for production of up to 125 million pounds per annum; this is the final operating permit required to get into production. In 2017, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality issued an Amended Aquifer Protection Permit for the Johnson Camp Mine, and an Aquifer Protection Permit for the Gunnison Copper Project.
Mark Morabito, the Chairman added, “There has not been a new copper mine permitted within the state of Arizona in over a decade; I congratulate the Excelsior management team for achieving this important milestone that keeps Excelsior Mining on schedule to become the next new copper producer in the United States. In addition to generating significant economic benefits, the Gunnison Copper Project genuinely represents a more environmentally-friendly era of mining for Arizona.”
Additional information about the Gunnison Copper Project can be found in the technical report filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com entitled: “Gunnison Copper Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Feasibility Study” dated effective December 17, 2016. The Feasibility Study projected an after-tax NPV of US$ 807 million and an IRR of 40% using a US$ 2.75 per pound copper price and a 7.5% discount rate.
For more information on Excelsior, please visit our website at www.excelsiormining.com.
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