RED Mountain Mining has received Lobo Municipal Government Council endorsement for its Batangas Gold Project development in southern Luzon. The project has now been endorsed by all directly affected local government councils, having already received the required endorsement of the 10 barangay (township) councils in January 2015.

The company will continue to consult with the next tiers of government, including the Batangas Provincial Council, while final technical review and mine permitting is processed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau prior to final approval by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Manila.

Red Mountain’s managing director Jon Dugdale said, “Local Government endorsement of the Batangas Gold Project development and production plan is a critical step in the final mine permitting process.

“The endorsement of all 10 local barangay councils, and now the Lobo Municipal Council, is a firm vote of confidence that indicates how strongly the local community supports this project. With the support of the local government councils, we look forward to completing the final stages of permitting, then developing this exciting gold project.”

The other key permitting element being progressed is approval of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and grant of the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC). The final EIS community consultation briefings were held in Lobo on May 28 and 29. The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) will complete its review and approval of the EIS before the DENR grants the ECC.

The definitive feasibility study (DFS) is advancing towards completion, with process engineering to determine final process plant capital and operating costs, water balance and design of the residue storage facility as well as infrastructure design, well under way.

New resource models are also in progress for the Kay Tanda resources at Archangel and the at-surface, high-grade, early mining targets on the South West Breccia (SWB) trend at Lobo. This will allow a new updated mining schedule to be developed prior to completion of the DFS.

The company’s current major objective is to complete the DFS and all permitting inputs and provide a pathway to development and cash flow as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, new very high grade gold surface results have extended the early mixing zone of the SWB lode extended area by up to 50 metres. The best result is 3 metres averaging 24.2 grams/tonne gold, including 1 metre @ 39.5 grams/tonne. There is now significant potential to add to the high grade SWB resource and early mining target through continued trenching and drill testing.