Prophecy Submits Nevada State Mine Operating Permit Applications for Gibellini Vanadium Project
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Prophecy Development Corp. has submitted, through its wholly owned subsidiary Nevada Vanadium, the applications and Engineering Design Reports (EDRs) for the primary mining permits that govern project construction, operations, and closure for its Gibellini Vanadium Project located in Eureka County, Nevada, to the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP).
“The Prophecy team is working diligently with the support of the federal and state regulators and is actively engaging all stakeholders in order to obtain all the state and federal permits required to begin construction of North America’s first primary vanadium mine. We are on track to initiate the EIS process after the notice of intent is published, which will be a milestone in permitting the Gibellini Project,” said Ron Espell, VP Environment and Sustainability.
“It will represent the starting point of a well-defined 12-month process under the Department of the Interior’s Secretarial Order No. 3355 that shareholders will be able to mark on their calendars,” added Espell.
“The State of Nevada is the best jurisdiction for mining investment in the world, according to Fraser Institute. The deposit is critical as Gibellini’s annual production profile of 9.75 million lb. of V2O5 outlined in the independent preliminary economic assessment is sufficient to meet United States current vanadium consumption requirement,” said Michael Doolin, prophecy’s CEO and COO.
The permit applications submitted on October 31, 2019 were for the Water Pollution Control Permit and the Class II Air Quality Permit. These Nevada state permits have been developed to provide construction level engineering that supports the mine plan previously submitted to the BLM in the plan of operations. Comments received from both the BLM and SWCA were used as guidance in the engineering design to ensure the state and federal permits are aligned and reflect the most current guidance provided by both the NDEP and BLM.
NDEP Water Pollution Control Permit
The engineering design for heap leaching, the processing facility, and the mine design (M3 Engineering and Newfields Companies) was integrated into to the site closure plan that was also submitted as part of the WPCP application. This design will facilitate concurrent closure of the heap as each heap cell is finished leaching. This will allow the closure plan to be initiated during operations. At the end of active mining, the site can be closed at minimal technical risk. This reduces the closure duration and liability and the commensurate reclamation bond.
Air Quality Class II Permit
The Class II Permit for Gibellini is for facilities that emit less than 100 tons per year for any one regulated pollutant. Since the vanadium processing will utilize a heap leach, the emissions will be under the threshold for more complex air permits. The engineering design incorporates stringent emission control technology to minimize emissions. The modeled emissions from the entire Gibellini Project are well below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
The Enhanced Baseline Reports (EBR’s) were extensively used in the project engineering design to ensure that potential environmental impacts identified in the EBR’s would be avoided or minimized by facility design. These engineering controls help ensure that avoidance of potential environmental impacts is “built into” the project from the start of the design process. Doing so will allow environmental protection measures to be taken to minimize the risk of impacts that cannot be completely avoided in the design and ensure up-front project planning that is sensitive to all environmental resources.
About Prophecy
Prophecy is developing the Gibellini project – the only large-scale, open-pit, heap-leach vanadium project of its kind in North America. Located in Nevada, Gibellini is currently undergoing EPCM and permit development.
To stop by Prophecy’s website, CLICK HERE
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