The surface water baseline data report (BDR) for the proposed, underground Grassy Mountain gold project in Malheur county, Oregon, has been accepted, precious metals explorer and developer Paramount Gold Nevada announced on Wednesday.
The BDR acceptance, combined with the other 16 previously accepted, and the recent filing of the conditional use permit with Malheur county, were providing further momentum to the project’s permitting process, Paramount CEO Glen van Treek said.
“We are well underway with the permitting process and are confident we are proceeding on the path towards approval for Grassy Mountain,” he commented in a statement.
The surface water BDR was completed by SPF Water Engineering and characterises the baseline surface water conditions within the study area defined in the environmental baseline study work plan, which was approved by the state technical review team (TRT) in September 2017.
This BDR report was reviewed and accepted by the TRT, including the following Oregon state agencies: Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Water Resources Department and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In terms of all the baseline data reports for Grassy Mountain, 17 of the 23 baseline reports have been reviewed and accepted by the TRT; one additional report has been submitted with acceptance by the TRT pending; two reports are being updated at the request of the TRT and will be resubmitted; two reports are currently being completed by Paramount, with submission to the TRT to follow; and the mined land reclamation BDR, the final report, will be filed as part of the consolidated permit application expected later this year.