TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed Romarco Minerals this week made strides towards completing project permitting for its flagship Haile gold project, in South Carolina, after receiving its water quality certification from the state of South Carolina and clinching agreements with several environmentalist groups not to bring suits or claims against the federal, state or local permits issued for the project.

Having satisfied state requirements for water standards, South Carolina on Tuesday recommended that the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) grant Romarco the same certification at federal level.

The USACE had previously indicated that it expected to publish its ‘record of decision’ in November.

Romarco said it was working with three international financial institutions, Caterpillar Financial Services, Macquarie Bank and Société Generale Corporate & Investment Banking to arrange a senior-secured project finance facility for Haile.

The company had been working on a detailed and comprehensive term sheet with the lenders and, from those discussions, it expected to receive commitments for up to $200-million, with no requirement for mandatory gold hedging by November.

The company in July explained that it was reviewing various other sources of financing to provide the balance of the funds for building the $275-million project. These might include equity, debt or other capital market transactions.

CONSERVATION ACCORD

Romarco on Wednesday reported that it had reached agreements with five conservation groups to provide ongoing protection for lands in the Lynches river watershed of South Carolina.

The company reported that subsidiary Haile Gold Mine had formed working relationships with regulatory agencies and the conservation community to assemble a showcase mitigation package for the project's proposed impacts on the environment.

The conservation groups had agreed that they would not bring any suit or claim regarding federal, state or local permits issued for the Haile project as described in the ‘final environmental impact statement’.

Haile and the conservation groups had agreed to establish an organisation named the Lynches River Conservation Board to fund land acquisition projects in the Lynches river watershed that improved the water quality and ecological integrity of the Lynches river watershed.

The board would comprise six members, including representatives from Haile and the local government, and would be able to accept and award proposals from qualified third parties, such as land trusts and state and local agencies, for selecting, funding and managing appropriate land conservation projects in the watershed.

As an initial contribution to this endeavour, Haile would transfer almost 150 ha of land in the Flat Creek area of Lancaster County to a land conservation organisation. These lands and wetlands were critical to water quality, fish, mussels and other wildlife next to Flat Creek, in the Lynches river watershed, close to a state preserve known as Forty Acre Rock.

The lands were valued at about $2-million and within a designated critical habitat for the endangered Carolina heelsplitter mussel. The state and many land conservation organisations had identified land in Flat Creek as a priority for conservation.

After Haile achieved commercial production it would make four yearly donations of $1-million each to the Lynches River Conservation Board.