Mining News
Osino receives environmental clearance certificate for its Twin Hills gold project in Namibia
(Kitco News) - Osino Resources (TSXV: OSI) announced today that the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has issued an Environmental Clearance Certificate ("ECC") for the Twin Hills gold project which is valid for three years and renewable on a three yearly cycle.
The company said that the ECC is subject to the relocation of historical graves which are located within the Twin Hills project area, adding that a process is underway to secure the necessary consent to conclude this to the satisfaction of Namibia's National Heritage Council.
Importantly, Osino noted that the issuance of the ECC thus concludes one of three significant outstanding conditions for the conclusions of a full mining license ("ML") for the Twin Hills gold project, to be issued by Namibia's Ministry of Mines & Energy.
The company said that the other conditions to the issuance of a full, unconditional ML are the implementation of a 5% non-carried minority interest for local shareholders and achievement of customary affirmative action quotas (20% of management) and the submission of a strategy for adherence to the Namibian government's poverty alleviation and socio-economic upliftment strategy of especially disadvantaged population groups.
"Granting of the ECC thus substantially de-risks Osino's permitting timeline and confirms Namibian regulatory support for the rapid advancement of Osino's Twin Hills gold project into the development phase," Osino said in a statement.
Applications to obtain the necessary secondary permits have commenced with the aim of concluding all permitting, initiating early works and commencing with construction during H2 2023, it added.
Osino is a Canadian gold mine developer and explorer focused on the fast-tracked development of its PFS-stage Twin Hills gold project in central Namibia.
Since its grassroots discovery by Osino in August 2019 the company has completed more than 250,000m of drilling at Twin Hills and in September 2022 released a pre-feasibility study ("PFS") which outlines a 13-year open-pit mine life with an average annual gold production rate of 169koz per annum at all-in sustaining costs of US$930/oz in the 10 years of operation. This is based on 2.15 Moz in reserves.
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