London-listed Bluebird Merchant Ventures is eagerly awaiting the granting of permits from the South Korean government for the Gubong and Kochang gold projects.
The company in mid-June published a prospectus which set out its expected timetables for the projects.
The permit application for Gubong will be submitted to an administrative panel at central government level, which needs to consider the application. This is a one-day process that is currently scheduled for August.
In parallel, the Kochang permit is still being assessed. The company attributes the delay in the granting of this permit to a change in the legislation – the Counter Measure Against Natural Disasters Act.
The legislation contains an ambiguous mining section.
Bluebird had since had success in lobbying the Korean Ministry of Interior and Safety for an official favourable interpretation to be given. The lobbying was supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korea Resource Corporation and the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.
The proclamation of the legislation is in the process of being distributed to all government departments.
“Our permit applications, when successful, will be the first permits to reopen a gold mine in Korea in two decades. As such, Bluebird is a trailblazer in reinvigorating the mining industry,” commented CEO Colin Patterson.