Prophecy Is
Starting The
First Major
Vanadium Mine in the USA
Vancouver,
BC, Canada -- April 25, 2019 -- InvestorsHub NewsWire -- Prophecy
Development Corp. ("Prophecy" or "the Company") (TSX: PCY, OTCQX: PRPCF, Frankfurt:
1P2N) is
pleased to announce that it has submitted, through its wholly owned
US subsidiary, the requisite baseline studies for its Gibellini
Vanadium Project located in Eureka County, Nevada, USA to both the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Nevada Division of
Environmental Protection (NDEP).
The Enhanced
Baseline Report format, made with guidance from the BLM, is
designed to identify potential resource conflicts early in the
project timeline. Doing so will allow measures to be taken to avoid
and/or minimize such conflicts and ensure an up-front project
planning that is sensitive to all environmental
resources.
Mine
Plan of Operations
Prophecy intends to
submit its Mine Plan of Operations
(MPO)
by July 2019,
which, upon acceptance by BLM, shall trigger Notice of
Intent (the
"NOI") to initiate final Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS). A decision on EIS shall be
rendered within 12 months from triggering the NOI in accordance
with new streamlined National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review
process
This means
that permitting for the Gibellini Project may be concluded
in early
2021
and that
Gibellini could be the first permitted primary vanadium mine in
North America.
Why Prophecy's Gibellini?
Prophecy
Development Corp (TSX: PCY, OTC: PRPCF) owns the Gibellini
project – the only large-scale, open-pit, heap-leach vanadium
project of its kind in North America;
Located in
Nevada, premium location for mining- Ranked #1 for North America
mining investment in the world (Fraser
Institute);
The Gibellini
Vanadium Project is Low Capex, Low Opex and High IRR Project based
on independent preliminary economic study*;
Clear
path to permitting in 2021;
Prophecy has
only 95 million shares outstanding.
Click Here To Find Out More About Gibellini Vanadium
Project
Prophecy has
tackled all major technical and permitting hurdles,
namely,
Mine
Closure
Engineering for
heap leaching, the processing facility, and the mine design (M3
Engineering and Newfields Companies, LLC) is being integrated into
to the site Closure Plan. This facilitates concurrent closure of
the heap as each heap cell is finished leaching. This will allow
the Closure Plan to be implemented during operations. At the end of
active mining, the site can be closed at minimal technical risk.
This reduces the closure duration and liability and the
commensurate reclamation bond.
Water
The
Company has signed a 10-year water lease agreement (WLA) with the
owner of a private ranch located approximately 5 miles from the
project. The WLA can be extended for any number of additional
7-year terms, not to exceed a total of 99 years (including the
primary term). The Gibellini Project requires a modest maximum flow
rate of 500 gallons per minute (gpm)
from the ranch that represents less than 20% of the water rights
for the ranch
The WLA provides,
as the source of water, surface springs located on the private
ranch, thus eliminating the need to appropriate water rights from
the Nevada Division of Water Resources. The Gibellini Project has
completed water-related baseline studies that cover
the quantity and
quality of both surface and groundwater at the site, surrounding
areas and the ranch water supply. Since the baseline studies have
been completed, Prophecy expects to expedite any permitting
process. See Company press release dated
August 20, 2018.
Uranium
A small amount of
uranium will be produced as a by-product at Gibellini
(approximately 1% in volume relative to the vanadium production
volume) with minute concentrations arising during the vanadium
purification process. As uranium concentration and extraction occur
only at a single stage within the process design, the uranium
permit footprint is confined to a small portion of the process
facility. This will be overseen by the Nevada Department of Health
rather than the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and results
in a significantly reduced regulatory permitting
timeline.
Sage
Grouse
With the
implementation of the Nevada Sage Grouse Conservation Credit System
(CCS), Prophecy has conducted an extensive baseline habitat
condition survey. It will use the Habitat Quantification Tool to
calculate the number of debits required to mitigate any direct and
indirect impacts to sage grouse habitat. Prophecy intends first to
avoid and minimize impacts to habitat, and second to either develop
or purchase credits to mitigate any remaining impacts.
Gibellini Vanadium Projects Highlights
*Independent
economic assessment report dated August 2018 prepared by Amec Foster Wheeler E&C
Services Inc., part of the Wood Group of companies.
Summary
"We are on track to
initiate the EIS process after the Notice of Intent is published,
which will be a milestone in permitting the Gibellini Project,"
notes Ron Espell, Prophecy's VP Environment. "It will
represent the starting point of a well-defined 12-month process
under the Department of the Interior's Secretarial Order No. 3355
that shareholders will be able to mark on their calendars."
Ron is a highly
regarded permitting specialist with 30 years of experience working
in the past with Barrick and McEwen Mining.
Michael Doolin,
Prophecy's CEO and COO, observes, "The State of Nevada is the best
jurisdiction for mining investment in the world, according to
Fraser Institute. The deposit is critical as Gibellini's annual
production profile of 9.75 million lb. of V2O5 outlined in the
independent preliminary economic assessment is sufficient to meet
United States current vanadium consumption
requirement." Mr. Doolin joined Prophecy in
2019 after Klondex (where he was COO) was purchased by mining giant
Hecla for $460million in 2018.
Watch Gibellini Project Summary
The only large-scale, open-pit, heap-leach vanadium project of its
kind in North America
Watch Independent Speculator Interview Prophecy's
Chairman John Lee
Louis
James, long-time Doug
Casey Independent
Speculator team member interviews Prophecy's Chairman John Lee
about Prophecy's flagship Gilbellini Vanadium Project, its
progress, vanadium prices, and plans for the future. It has
gathered over fifty
thousand views and is a
can't miss.
Trade
Prophecy at links below:
US Brokers
(OTC: PRPCF)
www.tdameritrade.com
www.etrade.com
www.fidelity.com
www.merrilledge.com
Canadian
Brokers (TSX: PCY)
www.Td.com
www.rbcdirectinvesting.com
www.qtrade.com
www.questrade.com
www.scotiabank.com/itrade
www.bmo.com/investorline
About
Prophecy
Prophecy is
developing the Gibellini project, the only large-scale, open-pit,
heap-leach vanadium project of its kind in North America. Located
in Nevada, Gibellini is currently undergoing EPCM and permit
development.
Cautionary
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Some
statements
in this news release are about future events
and
performance.
Such
statements are based on
current
estimates, predictions, expectations, or beliefs. The subjects of
the
statements
include, but are not limited
to,
(i) the PEA
representing a viable development option for the project; (ii)
construction of a mine at the project and related actions; (iii)
estimates of the capital costs of constructing mine facilities, bringing the mine into
production, and sustaining
the
mine, together with
estimates
of
the
length
of financing
payback periods; (iv) the estimated amount of future
production, of both [raw material?]
and metal
recovered; and (vi) estimates of the life of the
mine
and of
the
operating and
total costs, cash flow, net present value, and economic
returns, including internal rate of
return from an operating mine constructed at the project.
All
forward-looking statements are based on Prophecy's or its
consultants' current beliefs and assumptions,
which are in turn based on the
information
currently available to them. The most significant
assumptions are set forth above, but generally these assumptions
include: (i) the presence and continuity of vanadium mineralization
at the project at the estimated grades; (ii) the
geotechnical and metallurgical characteristics of
the
rock conforming
to the sampled results; (iii)
infrastructure construction costs and schedule; (iv) the
availability of personnel, machinery, and equipment at
the
estimated prices
and within the estimated delivery times; (v) currency exchange
rates; (vi) vanadium sale prices; (vii) appropriate discount rates
applied to the cash flows in the economic analysis; (viii) tax
rates applicable to the proposed mining operation; (ix) the
availability of acceptable financing on reasonable terms; (x)
projected recovery rates and use of a process method,
which
although
well-known and proven with other commodity
types, such as copper, has not been
previously brought into production for a vanadium project; (xi)
reasonable contingency requirements; (xii) success in realizing
proposed operations; and (xiii) assumptions that
the
project's environmental approval and
permitting is forthcoming from county,
state, and federal authorities. The
economic analysis is partly based on Inferred Mineral Resources
that are
considered too speculative geologically to have the economic
considerations applied to them that would enable them to be
categorized as Mineral Reserves,
and there is no
certainty that the PEA based on these Mineral Resources
will be realized.
Currently there are no Mineral Reserves
on the Gibellini
property. Although the Company's management and its consultants
consider these assumptions to be reasonable, given the information currently
available to them, they could prove to be incorrect. Many
forward-looking statements are made assuming the correctness of
other forward-looking statements, such as statements of net present
value and internal rates of return. Those statements
are based
in turn
on most of the
other forward-looking statements and assumptions
made
herein. The cost
information is also prepared using current values, but the time for
incurring the costs is in the future and it is
assumed costs will remain stable over the relevant
period.
These factors
should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements
by Prophecy or its consultants.
Prophecy and its consultants believe that
the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements
contained in this news release and the documents incorporated by
reference herein are
reasonable, but no assurance can be
given that these expectations will prove correct. In addition,
although Prophecy and its consultants have attempted to identify
important factors that could cause actual actions,
events, or results to differ
materially from those described in forward-looking statements,
there may be other factors that cause actions,
events, or results not to be as
anticipated, estimated, or intended. Prophecy
and
its consultants
undertake no obligation to publicly release any future
revisions of the forward-looking
statements that reflect events or
circumstances that occur
after the date of
this news release or reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events, except as expressly required by
law.