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(Alliance News) - Sunrise Resources PLC on Friday said preparation of the environmental assessment for its CS pozzolan-perlite project in the US is almost complete, with all supplemental environmental reports now submitted.
Shares in Sunrise climbed 25% to 0.14 pence in London in midday trading.
The supplemental reports have been sent to the US Bureau of Land Management and the information from the reports will be included in the environmental assessment, along with baseline studies and a plan of operations.
Once the supplemental environmental reports are approved by the bureau, the environmental assessment can then be submitted and put forward for public comment. This will form part of the final permit approval process.
Sunrise has also "been working with equipment suppliers to cost and source the required process plant" to produce horticultural-grade raw perlite, and by-product finely crushed natural pozzolan, from the mine using mobile processing equipment.
Cost proposals have been received for renting plant items. which Sunrise said is in line with its goal to develop CS, located in the state of Nevada, "at minimal capital cost".
Moreover, the firm "has received strong enquiries from a number of potential new perlite customers" and is planning more commercial scale tests. Sunrise is intending to process a 100 tonne perlite bulk sample at the CS site, which will be supplied to the new customers.
Sunrise is, additionally, looking into processing a bulk sample from its NewPerl project simultaneously and has already been given a permit to do so.
Executive Chair Patrick Cheetham said: "I am pleased to be reporting that our mine permitting process remains on track for completion towards the end of the next quarter. Our project has generated further strong interest amongst the attendees of the Perlite Institute Annual Meeting held last week where customer discussions continue to reinforce the opportunity for a new supplier of raw perlite. The latest United States Geological Survey commodity summary shows a growing market for perlite with a 12% annual rise in US consumption in 2018 and a 22% rise over 2015, driven in part by increased use of perlite in the expanding cannabis market in North America."
