Perpetua Resources thinking of Stibnite financing
Perpetua Resources has a line of sight in obtaining a Record of Decision for the permitting of its Stibnite gold-antimony project in Idaho, US in the first half of 2024 which will enable it to determine construction timing, chief executive Laurel Sayer told Mining Journal at the 2023 Precious Metals Summit in Beaver Creek, Colorado, US.

With the permitting process drawing to a conclusion, the company hired Mike Wright as VP projects who is developing the plans for construction engineering.
While permitting may be reaching its conclusion, the challenging equity markets for junior gold developers bring a new suite of issues for Perpetua and the US$1.3 billion Stibnite development.
"Raising equity at these prices is not feasible. We are starting to get the finance lined up, and we hope that when we get the permits, our share price is higher. Our project is incredible, so we know the lenders will be there. The payback is less than three years, and people want to be part of restoring this area," said Sayer.
In the meantime, the company continues to access funding from US federal critical minerals programmes, particularly from the Department of Defense (DoD). The DoD is particularly interested in the possibility of the project being able to produce weapons-grade antimony tripsulphate.
Stibnite hosts some 149Mlb of antimony and would become the sole US producer of the critical mineral.
"The fish restoration part of the project appealed to the DoD, and the scale of the clean-up. It was not lost on them that a lot of that historical environment liability was because the DoD mined the area for critical metal in World War II," said Sayer.
Perpetua's clean-up plans and efforts have also started to thaw relations with the Nez Perce Native American band, resulting in the recent settlement of an action it raised under the Clean Water Act.
"The Nez Perce will never say they love the project, but the settlement creates a watershed restoration fund and will see us work together to improve the watershed for fish, for them. We hope this settlement and working together will build trust and start rebuilding the relationship with the Nez Perce. The line of communication is now open and we both want the same thing for the site," said Sayer.
Perpetua finished the 2023 component of the restoration programme ahead of schedule and is working with the Environmental Protection Agency and US Forest Service to see if it can bring some of the 2024 restoration plans forward to this year.
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