Calling them “landmark permitting agreements,” Osisko Development(TSXV:ODV; NYSE:ODV) has signed a process charter and a joint information requirements table with various government agencies in British Columbia. The agreements are intended to advance the company’s 100%-owned Cariboo gold project in the central region of the province.
Chair and CEO Sean Roosen is pleased with the two unique agreements. They establish clear timelines for review and referral of permit applications for the project. They also set out a defined framework for information requests.
“They provide the company with predictability and key mechanisms to successfully navigate the regulatory permitting process,” he said.
The process charter, signed with the B.C. Major Mines Office, establishes a workplan for co-operation between the company, the MMO, the Ministry of Energy, the Mines and Low-Carbon Innovation (EMLI), and the Ministry of Environment (ENV). It commits all parties to a defined regulatory permitting process. The target timelines established by the process charter, which are contingent on the issuance of the environmental assessment certificate anticipated in the third quarter this year, contemplate a final application referral date that is aligned with the company's anticipated receipt of environmental permits in the first quarter 2024.
The joint information requirements table, signed with the EMLI and the ENV, outlines and serves as a single list of all agreed upon information requirements to support the project’s Mines Act and the Environmental Management Act permit applications, issued by EMLI and ENV, respectively. Adoption of this table for Cariboo assists all parties in developing a robust permit application for submission, and may result in additional information requests, subject to the application review process.
The Lhtako Dené Nation also supports the Cariboo project, saying in a release: “We are encouraged by Osisko Development’s commitment to building a sustainable and environmentally innovative operation and look forward to continuing working together. The project will not only provide the Nation and local communities with long-term employment, support and opportunity, but will also bring our Nation and local communities together."
The Cariboo project is supported by measured and indicated resources of 14.7 million tonnes grading 3.33 g/t gold (1.6 million oz.) and 0.09 g/t silver (39,000 oz.) There is also an inferred resource of 15.5 million tonnes at 3.44 g/t gold (1.7 million oz.) and 0.01 g/t silver (4,000 oz.)
Gold production could begin as early as 2024 with a 12-year mine life for an initial capex of only $137.3 million. Total gold recovered would be 1.9 million oz. or approximately 164,000 oz. per year. The life of mine all-in sustaining cost will be US$958/oz.
