TVI Pacific and its Philippine affiliate, TVI Resource Development (Phils) (TVIRD), have entered the final phase of permitting at the Balabag Gold-Silver Project in Zamboanga del Sur province. TVIRD is fulfilling the final requirements necessary for approval of its Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility (DMPF) from the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The company will be submitting the information by the end of January 2015. Depending on the DENR’s response time, TVIRD anticipates that the permitting process could be completed in the first quarter of 2015, after which on-site construction work will commence.

“We are very encouraged to be nearing completion of the permitting process at Balabag,” says TVI CEO and TVIRD chairman Clifford James. “While the process has taken longer than anticipated, it has given our team the time to fully optimize the process flow sheet by conducting thorough pilot plant test work and various other studies to ensure the eventual operation’s success.

“In addition, the advancement of the Balabag project serves as another critical stepping stone for TVIRD to secure a listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange in 2015, the achievement of which could substantially enhance its investment value for TVI and its shareholders.”

While exploration and development work have been put on hold at the Balabag project since mid-2013 pending the receipt of all permits, TVIRD has continued to work on the engineering design for a gold-silver processing plant to process ore on-site. Basic engineering design has been completed and detailed design work is under way. TVIRD has also constructed and maintained 16km of access roads to the project in anticipation of the commencement of construction.

TVIRD holds 100% of the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement area covering 4779 hectares containing the Balabag epithermal gold and silver project. The project is in the town of Bayog and is about 75km east-northeast of TVIRD’s Canatuan mine.