Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE American: LODE)
announced today that the Nevada Division of Environmental
Protection’s (NDEP) Bureau of Mining Regulation and Reclamation
(BMRR) approved a reduction in its Lucerne reclamation bonding
requirement from several successful environmental reclamation and
restoration efforts.
Along State Route (SR) 342, just south of Gold
Hill, Nevada, the Company completed a variety of reclamation and/or
environmental restorations, including:
- The Keystone Waste Rock Facility (Keystone WRF) – 6.6 acres of
regrading and revegetation;
- The Hartford Waste Rock Facility (Hartford WRF) – 3.8 acres
of regrading and revegetation; and
- The Justice Surface Mine (Justice) – 12 acres, backfilling of
the surface mine and grading to contour.
Progressive earthwork activities included regrading, ripping,
scarifying (breaking up compacted materials) and dispersing growth
media coverage. Special effort went into sloping, grading,
treating and conforming the topography to natural contours. This
provides long-term slope stability, prevents ponding of surface
water and minimizes erosion that promotes self-sustaining, diverse
and conforming native-vegetation communities.
Corrado De Gasperis, Executive Chairman and CEO of the Company,
stated, “Our reclamation was innovative, timely, efficient and
especially effective for the regrading and revegetation efforts. We
integrated progressive activities such as aerial seeding and
concurrent backfilling for the Justice surface mine. The current
reclamation bond amount has been reduced down to $6.75 million from
over $7.10 million.”
This restoration work was performed concurrently with mining
from 2013 through 2015, with contract-partner Soil-Tech, Inc.
leading the revegetation efforts. NDEP’s BMRR typically requires
three years to evaluate and confirm the success of revegetation.
NDEP’s BMRR approved the Company’s reduced bonding requirement
after reviewing documentation and inspecting the reclamation and
verifying the success of the revegetation. New vegetation has been
established and has provided tensile strength to slopes that are
now stable and resistant to erosion. The new vegetation conforms to
the natural surroundings and established native plants provide new
habitat and ecosystems. There is no evidence of erosion,
slumping or slope failure and the reclaimed areas blend in with the
natural vegetation.
Mr. De Gasperis added, “The accelerated reduction of our
reclamation liabilities is extremely rewarding and validating of
our good achievements. This is the truest testament to the
commitment from our ‘Comstock Responsible’ team and the purpose of
our demonstrated culture. We continue pushing the envelope on the
development of new, clean technologies for advanced reclamation
excellence, including mercury clean up and leach pad tailings
reprocessing and look forward to more announcements relating to
those new developments.”
In 2015 and 2017, the Company received Nevada Excellence in Mine
Reclamation Awards from a committee comprised of NDEP’s BMRR,
Nevada Division of Minerals, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) Nevada, and the U.S. Forest Service. In
2018, the Company also received the U.S. Department of the Interior
BLM’s Reclamation and Sustainable Mineral Development Award, in
recognition of the complex reclamation, deep shaft sealing and
restoration of the Historic Silver Hill Mine shaft that was
completed in conjunction with the realignment and rebuilding of a
major portion of Nevada’s SR 342.
About Soil-Tech Inc.
Soil-Tech, Inc., headquartered in Las Vegas with a service
location in Sparks, Nevada was the contractor leading the
revegetation efforts. Serving the Western U.S. since 1990,
Soil-Tech’s innovation in seeding native habitats and controlling
fugitive dust led to the development of its Plas-Tex soil
stabilization product that was used on the reclaimed slopes.
Plas-Tex not only stabilizes terrain from erosion, but also offers
the unique feature of facilitating plant germination when mixed
with seed. Additionally, the proprietary Plas-Tex product is
derived from gypsum, a naturally occurring mineral that is mined in
the Western U.S. and is safe for the environment. Also, Soil-Tech
installed native plantings, including evergreens such as the
Single-Leaf Piñon Pine, one of Nevada’s official state trees.
About Comstock Mining Inc.
Comstock Mining Inc. is a Nevada-based, gold and silver mining
company with extensive, contiguous property in the Comstock
District and is an emerging leader in sustainable, responsible
mining. The Company began acquiring properties in the Comstock
District in 2003. Since then, the Company has consolidated a
significant portion of the Comstock District, amassed the single
largest known repository of historical and current geological data
on the Comstock region, secured permits, built an infrastructure
and completed its first phase of production. The Company continues
evaluating and acquiring properties inside and outside the district
expanding its footprint and exploring all of our existing and
prospective opportunities for further exploration, development and
mining. The near-term goal of our business plan is to maximize
intrinsic stockholder value realized, per share, by continuing to
acquire mineralized and potentially mineralized properties,
exploring, developing and validating qualified resources and
reserves (proven and probable) that enable the commercial
development of our operations through extended, long-lived mine
plans and developments that are economically feasible and socially
responsible.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release and any related calls or discussions may
include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements,
other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking
statements. The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,”
“estimate,” “project,” “plan,” “should,” “intend,” “may,” “will,”
“would,” “potential” and similar expressions identify
forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of
doing so. Forward-looking statements include statements about
matters such as: future industry market conditions; future
explorations or acquisitions; future changes in our exploration
activities; future prices and sales of, and demand for, our
products; land entitlements and uses; production capacity and
operations; operating and overhead costs; future capital
expenditures and their impact on us; operational and management
changes (including changes in the board of directors); changes in
business strategies, planning and tactics; future employment and
contributions of personnel, including consultants; future land
sales investments, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic
alliances, business combinations, operational, tax, financial and
restructuring initiatives; including the nature and timing and
accounting for restructuring charges, derivative liabilities and
the impact thereof; contingencies; environmental compliance and
changes in the regulatory environment; offerings, limitations on
sales or offering of equity or debt securities; including asset
sales and the redemption of the debenture and associated costs;
future working capital, costs, revenues, business opportunities,
debt levels, cash flows, margins, earnings and growth.
These statements are based on assumptions and assessments made
by our management in light of their experience and their perception
of historical and current trends, current conditions, possible
future developments and other factors they believe to be
appropriate. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees,
representations or warranties and are subject to risks and
uncertainties, many of which are unforeseeable and beyond our
control and could cause actual results, developments and business
decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by such
forward-looking statements. Some of those risks and
uncertainties include the risk factors set forth in this report and
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December
31, 2018, and the following: adverse effects of climate changes or
natural disasters; global economic and capital market
uncertainties; the speculative nature of gold or mineral
exploration, including risks of diminishing quantities or grades of
qualified resources; operational or technical difficulties in
connection with exploration or mining activities; contests over our
title to properties; potential dilution to our stockholders from
our stock issuances, recapitalization and balance sheet
restructuring activities; potential inability to comply with
applicable government regulations or law; adoption of or changes in
legislation or regulations adversely affecting our businesses;
permitting constraints or delays; business opportunities that may
be presented to, or pursued by, us; acquisitions, joint ventures,
strategic alliances, business combinations, asset sales, and
investments that we may be party to in the future; changes in the
United States or other monetary or fiscal policies or regulations;
interruptions in our production capabilities due to capital
constraints; equipment failures; fluctuation of prices for gold or
certain other commodities (such as silver, zinc, cyanide, water,
diesel fuel and electricity); changes in generally accepted
accounting principles; adverse effects of terrorism and
geopolitical events; potential inability to implement our business
strategies; potential inability to grow revenues; potential
inability to attract and retain key personnel; interruptions in
delivery of critical supplies, equipment and raw materials due to
credit or other limitations imposed by vendors; assertion of
claims, lawsuits and proceedings against us; potential inability to
satisfy debt and lease obligations; potential inability to maintain
an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting;
potential inability or failure to timely file periodic reports with
the SEC; potential inability to list our securities on any
securities exchange or market; inability to maintain the listing of
our securities; and work stoppages or other labor difficulties.
Occurrence of such events or circumstances could have a material
adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of
operations or cash flows or the market price of our securities. All
subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements by or
attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly
qualified in their entirety by these factors. Except as may be
required by securities or other law, we undertake no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Neither this press release nor any related calls or discussions
constitutes an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy
the Debenture or any other securities of the Company.
Contact information: Comstock Mining, Inc. P.O. Box 1118
Virginia City, NV 89440 ComstockMining.com
Corrado De Gasperis Executive Chairman & CEO Tel (775)
847-4755 degasperis@comstockmining.com
Zach Spencer Director of External Relations Tel (775) 847-5272
ext.151questions@comstockmining.com
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