(Kitco News) - Perpetua Resources (TSX: PPTA) announced today that United States Forest Service has completed the Final Environmental Impact Statement and is issuing a Draft Record of Decision authorizing the Stibnite Gold Project in Idaho.
The company said that the Final Record of Decision is anticipated by the end of 2024.
Perpetua traded up 11% to $9.02 a share.
According to the company, the Stibnite gold project is positioned to be one of the highest-grade open pit gold projects in the United States with 4.8 million ounces of estimated gold reserves. The project is expected to produce over 450,000 ounces of gold annually over the first four years with all-in sustaining costs under $450 per gold ounce based on the 2020 feasibility study.
As a by-product of gold production, the Project has a reserve of 148 million pounds of antimony. Antimony is essential for national defense, clean energy and technology applications, yet no domestically mined supply currently exists. Beginning on September 15, 2024, China, which is responsible for nearly half of all global mined antimony output and dominates global refinement and processing, has announced that it will restrict antimony exports. The Stibnite Gold Project has one of the largest reserves of antimony not under Chinese influence and the only U.S. domestic reserve.
Perpetua received government funding due to its antimony. Early this year the U.S. Department of Defense conditionally awarded about $34.6 million in additional funding to Perpetua Resources, bringing total Defense Production Act Title III funding to $59.4 million.
