Galantas Gold plans underground mining as court case continues

6th Dec 2016 13:48

(ShareCast News) - Galantas Gold Corporation announced on Tuesday that it intends, subject to suitable financing, to commence underground development and restart concentrate shipments at its Omagh, Northern Ireland gold mine.The AIM-traded company said it is, via a Northern Ireland subsidiary, a Notice Party to a Judicial Review of its planning consent for an underground mine on its property at Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.As it announced on 23 November, the hearing - which commenced in September 2016 - was to have been continued in December 2016 but the court recently advised those dates are no longer suitable to the judge."The court has now listed dates for the continued hearing for 13-15 February 2017," Galantas' board said in a statement."The company has no certainty that there will not be further delays and also has no certainty over the time-scale for subsequent judgement."Galantas said it has received a report from its legal advisors engaged for the judicial review, and confirmed that it will continue to stand alongside the planning authority in robustly defending the consent.The company, which continued to hold a planning consent which it can implement, has been carrying out pre-conditions attaching to the planning consent and is ready for the next phase of implementation.Its board said that, having considered the legal advisor's report referred to above, it has decided to press ahead with immediate implementation of underground mining, to a plan as outlined in a NI 43-101 economic study."It is anticipated that a phased start-up of that plan will deliver early positive cash flow for a relatively modest capital expenditure."The phased arrangement, in terms of mine access dimensions, will allow for rapid expansion of production as additional capital becomes available."The mill is currently being re-commissioned in anticipation of a restarting of concentrate shipments in the first quarter of 2017, subject to suitable financing."Galantas already owns an ore processing plant, tailings facility, workshop, hydraulic excavators, articulated dump trucks, a bulldozer and more, in addition to 220 acres of freehold land.As announced on 9 August, it recently purchased a single boom drill rig and load-haul dump machine, suitable for underground use and that equipment has been delivered ready for use."A budget of £2m for the first phase of underground mining has been estimated."The company is at an advanced stage of negotiation with a provider of lease finance, which will provide funding for additional mine equipment."Development of the underground mine is subject to the availability of financing and the company expects to make a further announcement in that respect shortly."