After three years of licence delays, Canadian exploration junior GoldQuest announced this week that its staff in the Dominican Republic would be reduced to a minimum and that it would proactively seek opportunities elsewhere, citing regulatory uncertainty in the Caribbean nation.

Since its launch in 2002, GoldQuest has invested about $40-million in exploration activities in the Dominican Republic and is ready to spend between $20-million and $40-million upon receipt of the licence that will allow for environmental and bankable feasibility studies to get under way on its flagship Romero project, but CEO Bill Fisher said that it would be deploying its capital in other mining-friendly jurisdictions.

“The company believes that it has fulfilled, and exceeded, all of its obligations under Dominican Republic law. We have also introduced mining majors to the Dominican Republic. However, without clarity of process under the law, it is problematic to continue to invest,” he said.

GoldQuest  discovered the main Romero deposit in May 2012 and in October 2015 applied for the licence. In January this year, the project appeared to be moving forward when the Energy and Mines Minister endorsed it and sent it to the office of the President for ratification. In August, the project was again endorsed by the public/private National Competitiveness Council (CNC), which includes several Ministers and private entities. The CNC presented the project for ratification on October 11, but GoldQuest said it was still waiting to hear from the President.

A 2016 prefeasibility study envisions a 2 800 t/d underground mine, focused on the high-grade gold and copper ‘core’ of the Romero deposit to produce a saleable copper concentrate for shipment to offshore refineries. The project, which is estimated to cost about $251-million to build, will produce 109 000 oz of gold equivalent over a 7.3-year mine life.

However, GoldQuest will now only have skeleton staff in the Dominican Republic and it also withdrew its community outreach programmes.

GoldQuest trades on the TSX-V and hit an one-year low of C$0.0855 this week, following the corporate update. The stock closed at C$0.11 a share on Thursday.