LONDON (Alliance News) - Amur Minerals Corp Thursday said it is making progress on converting 36 square kilometres of of its 950 square kilometre exploration licence at Kun-Manie to that of a production licence, getting the necessary updated approval it needed from Russia's Ministry Defense as part of a multi-step approval process.
In a statement, the base metals explorer which is developing the Kun-Manie sulphide nickel, copper project in the far east of Russia, said it had been told by Russian authorities that the country's Ministry of Defense has updated its positive conclusion on the proposals and delivered its report to the country's licensing agency Rosnedra.
Amur Minerals said it is finalising the terms for the mining license with Rosnedra, and, once completed, the state licensing agency will then submit the necessary documents to the Ministry of Economic Development for review and approval.
The Ministry of Economic Development has to approve the terms of the production license application. That approval, along with updated approval reports from Russia's Anti-Monopoly Board, Ministry of Defense and Federal Security Service, will allow Rosnedra to forward the application to the Ministry of Natural Resources, its parent organisation, and then onward to the government of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for final approval.
The Anti-Monolpoly Board has already completed its update of the necessary documentation required by Rosnedra, and the company expects an updated report from the Federal Security Service in due course.
Amur Minerals, meanwhile, is focused on agreeing the terms of the licence with Rosnedra.
"We continue to focus on the definition and agreement of the terms related to the mining licence. Our team and its counterparts in the Russian Government have been making diligent progress in completing this phase of the work with Rosnedra," Amur Minerals Chief Executove Robin Young said in a statement.
Amur Minerals shares were down 1.1% at 3.05 pence Thursday morning.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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