TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian miner Alamos Gold has received the final signatures from the Turkish government approving the environmental-impact assessment (EIA) for its Kirazlı gold project.
The Environment and Urbanisation Ministry, the Turkish government agency responsible for reviewing the company’s EIA, had signed and issued formal approval in the form of an EIA positive decision certificate for the project.
“We are very pleased to have achieved this milestone. The EIA approval process is a very thorough and rigorous process that goes beyond the environmental impact to also consider the social impact of development. This achievement reflects our commitment to operating in accordance with the highest environmental and social standards,” president and CEO John McCluskey said in a statement on Monday.
He pointed out that Kirazlı would be Turkey’s “next” gold mine.
“We look forward to advancing it over the next 18 months, with initial production expected in the first half of 2015.”
Further, Alamos announced that the EIA on the Ağı Dağı project, also in Turkey, had progressed to the final stage of the approval process.
The EIA commission had reviewed the submission and found the EIA sufficient and accepted it as final. The company had also been informed that a subsequent mandatory ten-day public notice period produced no opposition or comments of any kind.
Final approval of the Ağı Dağı EIA was now expected in a similar timeframe as that achieved with Kirazlı. With about $475-million in cash, no debt and strong ongoing cash-flow generation, the company expected to fund development of these projects internally.
Alamos is an established Canada-based gold producer that owns and operates the Mulatos mine, in Mexico, and has exploration and development activities in Mexico and Turkey.