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(Alliance News) - Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd on Monday reported some positive progress on securing the legal permits required to advance two of its projects in South Korea.
Bluebird Merchant Ventures is a South Korea-focused gold company primarily focused on bringing historic mines back into production.
Shares in the firm jumped 15% to 1.09 pence on Monday afternoon in London.
The company said it remains confident that it will receive the necessary mountain temporary use permits needed to commence production at the Gubong and Kochang mines.
Bluebird explained that the grant of these permits has taken far longer than anticipated, particularly as both projects have already received extraction licences. The permits are the last part of the legal requirements to bring the projects back into production.
At Kochang, the issuance of the permits has been referred to the Korean Board of Audit & Inspection. The BAI's adjudication is mandated to take 60 days but Bluebird noted that this is not guaranteed.
"Since the Kochang licence has already been awarded an extraction licence by the Ministry of Mines, has the support from the local landowners and community and the submission covered all the legal requirements, the company remains in a strong position," Bluebird added.
At Gubong, Bluebird said it decided the best course of action regarding the advancement of the project was to pause the submission and identify a local partner to jointly develop the larger of its two projects.
It is now in "advanced negotiations" with a unnamed local Korean entity to form a joint venture to advance Gubong. Under the joint venture, both companies will be net contributors to the project.
"We are progressing on both fronts in Korea. The joint venture model has worked for us in the Philippines, and we believe that this is the best option to secure the MTUP for Gubong and advance the project. The potential local JV partner has recognised the scale and potential of the asset, which we estimate to have in excess of 1.3 [million ounces of gold] and believe that they can both assist in the securing of the permit and the funding of the development of the mine to production," said Chief Executive Colin Patterson.
"While we are frustrated with the delays at Kochang, we welcome the Audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection, Korea, as we have submitted and complied with all the necessary regulations and submission requirements for the grant of the MTUP, which is concurred by our lawyers and planning consultants.
"We are not taking our eyes off the prize and remain 100% dedicated to achieving our objectives and bringing the two Korean high-grade mines back into production."
By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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