Constantine Metal Resources TSXV: CEM) announced that the Constantine Mining LLC Joint Venture, of which the company owns a 51% interest and Dowa Metals & Mining the remaining 49%, has received government approval to proceed with an underground exploration plan for the Palmer zinc-copper-gold-silver project in southeast Alaska.
In a press release, Constantine said that the approval allows for excavation of approximately 2,000 metres of underground ramp to provide a drilling platform for exploration and to provide access to gather additional geotechnical and hydrological data; 30,000 metres of underground exploration drilling; placement on the surface of waste rock from underground excavation; construction and operation of sediment settling ponds and land application disposal system for the discharge of underground seepage waters; construction of other facilities necessary for the underground excavation and drill programs.
The approval process took seven months and it allows for 30,000 metres of underground exploration drilling
The Alaska Mental Health Trust Lands Office, The Alaska Department of Natural Resources and The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation were all in charge of approving different aspects of the miner’s project.
The go-ahead for the plan of operations also covers a waste management permit to manage wastewater and waste rock issued by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation; approval for the reclamation plan issued by Alaska Department of Natural Resources and approval for the overall plan of operations by the Alaska Mental Health Trust, on whose land package the Palmer project is located.
Palmer is a high-grade volcanogenic massive sulphide-sulphate project located 60 kilometers of the deep-sea port of Haines. A recently completed Preliminary Economic Assessment for the project presents a low capex, low operating cost, high margin underground mining operation.
The Alaskan property hosts two NI 43-101 compliant resources, the Palmer Deposit and AG Zone Deposit, with a total consolidated mineral resource of 4.68 million tonnes of 10.2% zinc equivalent in the indicated category and 9.59 million tonnes of 8.9% zinc equivalent in the inferred category.