PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Iron-ore junior Genmin has received environmental approval for its Baniaka iron-ore project in Gabon.
The company on Wednesday said that Gabon’s Minister of Environment had approved the social and environmental impact assessment (SEIA) for the Baniaka project, and subject to the receipt of a mining permit, Genmin would be able to develop and operate the project.
“We are delighted to receive Ministerial approval of the SEIA and the issue of the certificate of environmental conformance; a critical milestone to Genmin’s target of achieving production at Baniaka in the second half of 2024,” said MD and CEO Joe Ariti.
“The certificate of environmental conformance is the final prerequisite for the issue of the large-scale mining permit for Baniaka, which we expect to be granted during the coming month.”
Genmin is planning an initial five-million-tonne-a-year export operation, scaling to ten-million tonnes a year during Stage 2. The company is planning to produce a mix of lump, fines and pellet feed, and has signed three non-binding memoranda of understanding with Chinese firms for up to 16-million tonnes a year of potential offtake.
Genmin has applied for a large-scale mining permit for an initial term of 20 years to support a starter five-million-tonne-a-year mining operation at Baniaka.