Feb 26 2016
Amarillo Gold Corp. ("Amarillo" or the "Company") Is pleased to announce that the Public Hearing, which is the last major step in obtaining the preliminary environmental license ("LP") for Amarillo's Posse gold deposit, was held on February 23, 2016 in the town of Mara Rosa, Goias state, Brazil.
The event was conducted and chaired by the Secretariat of Environment, Water Resources, Infrastructure, Cities and Metropolitan Affairs (SECIMA), and also attended by representatives of the Public Prosecutors office, (Ministério Público, "MP"). The Hearing was held in a church hall close to the centre of town.
More than 600 people attended, including the mayor of Mara Rosa, representatives from the Department of Mines (DNPM), other authorities, members of religious communities, social organizations, the business community, public servants, union representatives, residents of neighboring cities, and deputies from both the National and Goias congresses.
This Public Hearing is a fundamental part of the licensing process, it provides an opportunity for the Company and its environmental and social consultants, DBO Engenharia Ambiental and Integratio Mediação Social e Sustentabilidade, to present and describe the project and its socio-environmental aspects. It also gives the stakeholders a chance to ask questions and express opinions about the project. The proceedings were recorded by the secretary provided by SECIMA and all concerns and comments are considered when granting the final LP. Given the large number in attendance the reach out to the community was judged as successful. Over one hour was spent responding to several questions from the public and MP representatives.
The atmosphere at the meeting was overall very positive with many complementing Amarillo and its consultants on their approach. During the question time the focus was on the use of cyanide, water, labor and financial transparency. The responses to these questions by the Company, its consultants and various government representatives appeared to have been satisfactorily received.
Amarillo invites readers to follow this link: http://mararosa.com/noticia_exibir.php?id=1341 a local website for news and information on Mara Rosa. Photographs showing the meeting can be viewed as well as text (in Portuguese) written by local reporters.
Buddy Doyle President and CEO of Amarillo commented,"We are very confident that this project will move forward to its construction phase and subsequent operation, as we and the public authorities work together to fulfill all the necessary requirements to make Amarillo Gold's Mara Rosa (Posse Mine) project into a reality, bringing the expected benefits to the local community, to our shareholders and, ultimately, to the country".
The Company expects no further hurdles to being granted the LP which should occur within the next 2 months.
The Posse Deposit at Mara Rosa contains 1,174,900 ounces of measured and indicated gold contained in 20.85 MT at 1.75 g/t Au, and 156,400 ounces of gold inferred from 3.63 MT at 1.38 g/t Au (0.5 g/t cut-off grade), (NI 43-101 compliant resource as independently determined by Australian Exploration Field Services Pty. AEFS). The Mara Rosa Gold Project has received a positive economic assessment from a pre-feasibility study (NI 43-101 Coffey Mining,).
In Brazil mine permitting is governed and administered by each state, however the states tend to keep the same standards so the process is very similar throughout Brazil. The process has three stages, the preliminary license ("LP,"), the installation license ("LI"), and finally the license to operate ("LO"). The application for an LP is accompanied by an Environmental base-line report called the EIA (Estudo de Impacto Ambiental which translates to Environmental Impact Statement) and an environmental mitigation report, or RIMA (Relatório de Impacto Ambiental). The granting of the LP is often regarded as the most important license as it outlines all the basic parameters of the project which have to be accepted by all the parties involved. Further parts of the licensing process enter in more detail always following the basic parameters stipulated in the LP.
Once the LP is in hand the company will focus on the second stage of the permit process, the LI, which will require a bankable feasibility study, detail engineering of the tailings dam, basic engineering of the plant as well negotiations and agreements with the surface right holders. Construction can commence once the LI is obtained.