LONDON (Alliance News) - Ormonde Mining PLC Wednesday said it has made progress at the Barrueopardo tungsten project in Spain since securing an initial USD25 million in equity funds that allowed work to begin.
The miner said it has received all the council building permits and other approvals needed to use the land to develop the project, which were issued to the local project company Saloro SLU.
"Several key milestone steps were achieved by the onsite team, culminating in the receipt from the Barruecopardo town council of the building permit, which is required to be in place ahead of commencing construction on site," said Managing Director Steve Nichol.
Prior to securing that USD25.0 million, Saloro had secured options to acquire 75% of the land needed to begin developing the project, with a further 10% of land blocks covered by long-term rental agreements with the Barruecopardo Council.
Of the 75% of land blocks covered by the option, Saloro has exercised 88% of its options with the remainder to be acquired in the fourth quarter. The remaining 15% of the land needed by the miner will have to be acquired by the company from their current owners, but no news was released by the company concerning this on Wednesday.
The drilling campaign at the project has started with the aim of further confirming the potential for the mineral resources to be expanded and extended at depth, both in the central and northern areas.
The first of two environmental bonds has been placed with the regional government as required by the terms of the mining concession. No work could commence at the site until this first bond was put in place, with the second required before environmental works at the site can be carried out.
The electrical connection contract signed with the electricity supply company, Iberdrola, covers improvements to the Barruecopardo substation prior to the connection of power to the project being possible. These works are contracted to occur within the next 10 months, making this an "important contract" to have in place.
Fairport, the company conducting the detailed engineering work for the project, has completed the site layouts and process flow diagrams, which are needed before the company can begin tendering for contractors.
Moving forward, Ormonde said it will focus on ordering priority equipment in the fourth quarter of 2015, when it also plans to finalise a construction management contract, install a water line, finalise the engineering of the water dam, begin environmental works and continue to acquire the land needed to complete the project.
"Activities on the ground continue to gather pace as the project moves towards a commissioning date prior to the end of 2016, and I look forward to updating shareholders on progress in the interim on a regular basis," said Nichol.
Ormonde shares were up 8.8% to 1.85 pence per share on Wednesday.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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