De Grey Mining has announced that the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has granted the mining lease for its Hemi Gold Project.
The newly granted mining lease (M47/1628) covers the Hemi deposits, proposed mining area and processing plant site.
The granting of the mining lease for Hemi represents an important milestone for the company and the de-risking of the project on the path toward development and production. This milestone follows the previously announced signing of a mining agreement with the Kariyarra People in December 2022.
The company stated that the grant of the Hemi Mining Lease does not allow for the commencement of development of the project which remains subject to statutory, including environmental, approvals.
To that end, the company previously advised that submissions were made in May and June 2023 to the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and State Environmental Protection Authority respectively.
In addition to Hemi, mining leases to date have been granted over six of the seven regional deposits, including Wingina, Amanda, Mt Berghaus, Calvert, Withnell and Mallina.
The mining leases granted cover all De Grey’s current 9.5Moz Hemi Mineral Resource and approximately 95 per cent of the company’s current Global Mineral Resource of 11.7Moz. The new mining leases have been granted for an initial term of 21 years.
De Grey Managing Director, Glenn Jardine, said that the grant of the Hemi mining lease is another significant milestone for De Grey and further demonstrates the company’s systematic approach to de-risking the Hemi Gold Project.
“For De Grey shareholders and potential financiers this is a critical approval on the pathway to bringing Hemi into production,” Ms Jardine said.
“We are committed to ensuring the project creates sustainable long-term benefits to stakeholders and look forward to updating our investors with the outcomes of the Definitive Feasibility Study for Hemi in the coming weeks.”
