Liberty Gold Corp. (TSX: LGD; OTCQX: LGDTF) (“Liberty Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has secured water rights in excess of 2,300 acre-feet per annum (“AFA”) in the locality of Black Pine, intended for future use as process water supply. Liberty Gold has also obtained a strategic mineral rights lease from the State of Idaho covering 2.6 square kilometres (km2) adjacent to the deposit, representing both an exploration opportunity and a potential area for future heap leach infrastructure. These acquisitions continue to substantially de-risk the property from a development perspective.
Preliminary engineering studies suggest that this water supply is sufficient to sustain up to a ~70,000 ore tonnes per day, run-of-mine heap leach operation and associated infrastructure at Black Pine. We are pursuing multiple strategies for procurement of additional water rights given the potential scale of the new Rangefront discovery and to provide operational flexibility to a future mining operation.
Liberty Gold has also acquired a lease for mineral rights from the State of Idaho on Section 36, a 2.6 km2 (1 square mile) parcel of land located immediately east of the Black Pine deposit. Historic drilling confirms that the Rangefront mineralization extends northeast into this block. A Plan of Operations (“PoO”) to conduct exploration and condemnation drilling on this land was submitted to the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) in the third quarter of 2021.
An additional 0.54 km2 of ground has also been acquired by staking in this area. Total Liberty Gold land holdings at Black Pine now aggregate 51.6 km2 of which 54% is subject to a 0.5% Net Smelter Royalty and 41% is royalty free.
Jon Gilligan, Chief Operating Officer of Liberty Gold stated, “Key deliverables for the development team have been securing a reliable and sustainable long-term water supply and identifying additional land for the potential location of infrastructure for the future Black Pine mining operation. We are delighted to be partnering with the State and local communities to achieve this outcome. Liberty Gold will continue to conduct technical studies on this future ground water supply to ensure we manage the water resources in the basin in a sustainable manner, minimising potential impacts and maximizing benefits for stakeholders.”
