TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian gold producer Centerra Gold’s Gatsuurt project, 35 km from its operating Boroo mine, in Mongolia, has been designated as a 'mineral deposit of strategic importance' by the Mongolian Parliament.

The project milestone paves the way for Centerra to move forward within the country’s Water and Forest Law, which was the reason the Gatsuurt project remained under care and maintenance owing to the law prohibiting mining and exploration activities in water basin and forest areas.

Parliament’s approval of the list of mineral deposits of ‘strategic importance’ for the Mongolian government opened the door for Centerra to resume exploration on the property.

It also allowed Mongolia to acquire up to a 34% interest in the project.

TSX-listed Centerra, whose flagship asset is the Kumtor gold mine, in Kyrgyzstan, said  in a statement on Friday that it would continue its discussions with government regarding project development as well as the level of Mongolian State ownership.

The company noted that further development of the project would also hinge on receiving Parliamentary approval of  Mongolia’s ownership as well as all required approvals and regulatory commissioning from the Mongolian government.

“I am very pleased that Parliament has declared Gatsuurt as a project of strategic importance to Mongolia. Centerra has had very productive discussions with the government during the past year which we expect will continue as we finalise the permits and agreements that need to be put in place prior to Gatsuurt beginning production.

“We have operated the Boroo mine for more than ten years and look forward to developing the Gatsuurt project, which we expect will allow us to continue to operate in Mongolia for many more years to come,” Centerra president and CEO Ian Atkinson said.

The Gatsuurt project had estimated mineral reserves as at December 31, 2013, of 17.1-million tonnes at an average grade of 2.9 g/t of gold, containing about 1.6-million ounces of the yellow metal when using a cutoff grade of 1.4 g/t.

Provided that the final approvals and regulatory commissioning were received for the project, Centerra planned to mine the ore at Gatsuurt and truck it to the existing Boroo mill to be processed. Under the current plan for Gatsuurt, the company expected to process about 3.6-million tonnes of carbon-in-pulp ore, with an average grade of 2.86 g/t gold, through the existing Boroo facility in the first two-and-a-half operating years of the project.

During this time, Centerra planned to add a BIOX facility to the existing Boroo mill, which would be used to process the remaining BIOX ores of about 13.5-million tonnes with an average grade of 2.92 g/t.

Centerra’s TSX-listed stock traded slightly higher on Friday, gaining just under 2% before noon to change hands at C$6.77 apiece.