Perpetua Resources has announced that the United States Forest Service (USFS) has finalised the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and is issuing a Draft Record of Decision (DROD) authorising the Stibnite Gold Project. According to a USFS press release, both documents are set to be published on 6 September in the US Federal Register. Based on the USFS timeline released in July 2024, the Final Record of Decision (“ROD”) is expected by the end of the year.
The USFS press release confirmed that the “Draft Record of Decision outlines the Forest Service’s decision to authorise the 2021 Modified Mine Plan”. This decision follows a thorough interagency permitting review, scientific evaluation, and public input process. The Project aims to deliver environmental benefits by rehabilitating an abandoned mine site, while producing gold and tapping into the only known antimony reserve in the United States.
Perpetua’s Stibnite Gold Project is set to become one of the highest-grade open-pit gold projects in the US, with an estimated 4.8 million ounces of gold reserves. The Project is projected to produce over 450,000 ounces of gold annually during the first four years, with all-in sustaining costs below $450 per ounce of gold, according to the 2020 Feasibility Study.
In addition to gold production, the Project holds a reserve of 148 million pounds of antimony. Antimony is critical for national defence, clean energy, and technological applications, yet the US currently lacks a domestic supply. The Stibnite Gold Project represents one of the largest reserves of antimony outside of Chinese control and the only domestic reserve within the US.
The Stibnite Gold Project has undergone a comprehensive, science-based review process over multiple years, designed to balance environmental outcomes, community and national interests, as well as project economics.
The Stibnite Gold Project aims to rehabilitate a historic mining district abandoned after a century of largely unregulated mining.
The project aligns with a coordinated governmental effort to re-establish antimony production in the US. This includes $75 million in awards from the Department of Defense and a $1.8bn Letter of Interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM). These steps reflect recognition at the highest levels of government of the urgent need for domestic antimony production.
With the Final EIS and DROD scheduled for publication tomorrow and a Final ROD expected this year, Perpetua has engaged RBC Capital Markets and Endeavour Financial to assist in evaluating potential strategic and financing opportunities, as well as to support the Company’s application process for the U.S. EXIM $1.8bn Letter of Interest received in April 2024.
Perpetua Resources president and CEO Jon Cherry said: “Our project has exceptional economics, with an expected payback period of less than 3 years, while providing net environmental benefits and the critical mineral antimony. We have never been closer to unlocking the value of this unparalleled asset.”
