Fortitude Gold has secured approval from the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to commence construction and operation of the County Line Mine gold project in Nevada, US.
The environmental assessment permit and plan of operation (POO) for the County Line Mine have been approved by the BLM.
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Located roughly 16 miles north-east of Fortitude Gold’s operating Isabella Pearl gold mine, the County Line project will expand two historic open pits and utilise an existing waste rock storage facility.
The project, situated in both Mineral and Nye Counties, will leverage existing infrastructure at the Isabella Pearl mine, optimising capital expenditures and timelines for production.
The project awaits a BLM Bond Determination letter for reclamation costs and a Nevada Reclamation Permit from the Department of Environmental Protection (NDEP) for surface disturbance approval.
Fortitude Gold CEO and president Jason Reid said: “After years of unfortunate permit delays from the previous federal administration, we are excited to finally receive federal permit approval from the BLM for our County Line project.
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By GlobalData“The project’s proximity to our Isabella Pearl’s processing facilities should allow us to leverage our operations and place County Line into production faster and cheaper than most all other new mine builds. We are also actively pursuing permits for Scarlet South, about 500m from Isabella Pearl, as an open pit, adding to our hub and spoke approach to mine building and additional mineralised feed for our operations.”
The County Line Mine has several advantageous features including high-grade oxide gold at approximately one gram per tonne, proximity to the Isabella Pearl processing facilities and a short haul distance for mineralisation.
The project will become the second permitted ore source for Fortitude Gold’s operations.
The company plans to mine and transport mineralisation to the Isabella Pearl operation, taking advantage of the established heap leach pad and gold processing facilities.
Currently, Fortitude Gold is mining its Isabella Pearl deposit, focusing on the Pearl Deep mineralisation.
Upon finalising the County Line permit approvals, the company intends to initiate infrastructure work, with road construction and water infrastructure as priorities, in anticipation of near-term mining operations.
Projections indicate that by mid-2026, the Pearl Deep will be completed, allowing for a transition of equipment to ramp up County Line operations.
The company aims to achieve an annualised production rate of approximately 20,000 gold ounces from County Line over two years.
