Pershing Gold Corporation (NASDAQ:PGLC) (TSE:PGLC) shares were higher on Tuesday after the company reported it has completed the environmental permitting process for the Relief Canyon Mine and brokers at Cantor Fitzgerald Canada reiterated a Buy on the stock.
Pershing Gold announced it has successfully completed the environmental permitting process and has secured all the necessary permits to restart and expand the Relief Canyon Mine.
Read: Pershing Gold completes environmental permitting for Relief Canyon
Cantor said it reiterated its Buy recommendation and 12-month target price of $4.70.
“Positive. Now fully permitted, the company will be able to begin mining and heap leach processing of the Relief Canyon deposit. We continue to forecast an initial production amount of nearly 24,000 gold ounces for FY/17, ramping to approximately 100,000 ounces in subsequent years,” Cantor said in a note.
Cantor said that the major permits now in hand include the Plan of Operations approved by the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”), the Reclamation and Water Pollution Control Permits issued by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (“NDEP”)/Bureau of Mining Regulation, and three air quality permits issued by the NDEP/Bureau of Air Pollution Control.
The permits will allow for the expansion and deepening of the open pit mine, the construction of a new waste rock storage area, an increase to the exploration drilling area to test for high priority targets, the operation of mercury emission control equipment and lastly for the operation of the crusher and other equipment in the heap leach processing facilities, the broker said.
Cantor said that prior to the start of mining activities, the company must still provide the BLM and NDEP with additional financial assurance to guarantee reclamation of the mine site. It is estimated that the cash collateral to secure this bond will approximate $1.4mln.
The current resource estimate for Relief Canyon consists of a 778,000 gold ounces in the Measured & Indicated category, along with 47,500 Au ounces in the inferred category. Further successful exploration may extend the life of mine.
Pershing Gold shares were up 0.6% at $3.19 in New York on Tuesday.