Integra Resources Corp. (“Integra” or the “Company”)
(TSX-V: ITR; NYSE American: ITRG) is pleased to provide an
update on various permitting activities that have been underway
since 2020 in anticipation of the filing of the Mining Plan of
Operations in Q4 2023. The review and approval process for the MPO
by the BLM constitutes a federal action under the National
Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and BLM regulations. The MPO is
the basis for the impacts to be analyzed during the NEPA process.
Alternatives in the MPO are required for scoping in NEPA process,
as well as for geochemical characterization and groundwater
modeling. Potential disturbances and anticipated impacts provided
in the MPO will be the basis for all federal, state, and local
permitting efforts.
“The Company continues to push the DeLamar
Project forward on two fronts: de-risking DeLamar through
permitting and expanding the resource through drilling. On the
permitting front, many key studies are well advanced. The Company
has initiated baseline studies designed to ensure data collection
and/or monitoring since 2020. These studies, among other items,
will be fed into an MPO to be filed in late 2023,” noted President
and CEO George Salamis. “On the second front, we are excited to
announce that the Company has commenced a drill program on the
historic low-grade gold-silver stockpiles that were mined and
stored by previous operators. The 11,000 m drill program is aimed
at growing the oxide resource to potentially expand future heap
leach operations at DeLamar. This material once successfully
defined, could result in a significant amount of low-cost
gold-silver mineralized material being added to future mine plans
at DeLamar. These stockpiles, much of which were to be moved as
part of the pre-stripping cost in the Company’s Pre-feasibility
Study, have the potential to further enhance both the economics and
mine life of DeLamar.”
To date, the Company has completed more than 80%
of the required fieldwork for the baseline studies associated with
the proposed mine features at DeLamar. These baseline studies have
been ongoing since 2020 and the remaining 20% of required study
will be finished during the 2023 field season. The baseline studies
include:
Baseline Study |
Lead Consultant |
Aquatic Resources |
EcoAnalysts, Inc. and BioAnalysts, Inc. |
Wetlands, Seeps and Springs |
GeoEngineers Inc. and Haley & Aldrich |
Cultural Resources |
Tetra Tech Inc. |
Wildlife |
ERM |
Vegetation |
Cedar Creek Associates, Inc. |
Soils |
Cedar Creek Associates, Inc. |
Surface Water Hydrology and Quality |
Brown and Caldwell |
Ground Water Modeling and Quality |
Brown and Caldwell |
Geochemistry |
SRK Consulting |
Long lead-time studies, such as groundwater
modeling and geochemical characterization, were initiated in 2021.
Groundwater and geochemical modeling will aid in the determination
of required reclamation activities as well as the basis for various
permits required to be in place prior to construction including
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (“IDEQ”) Point of
Compliance, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and Cyanidation
Permit.
Ongoing engineering design is underway and the
team is refining the placement of facilities, pit design, mining
sequence, geotechnical investigations, and material processing to
develop a complete and accurate MPO. Other elements such as
transportation, energy needs, and public safety are also under
development. The Reclamation Plan, an essential element of the MPO,
will be completed in 2023.
The Company has been working closely with the
BLM since signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the agency in
August 2020 to facilitate the hiring of a dedicated mineral
specialist in the Marsing, Idaho BLM office (please refer to the
Company’s press release dated August 20, 2020 for further details).
SWCA Environmental Consultants has been selected as the third-party
consultant to the BLM.
Permitting / Engineering Planned
Activities – 2022-2023:
The following activities are on-going or will
begin soon for the MPO:
- Continued geotechnical studies
- Continued condemnation drilling
- Waste rock/mineralized material
stockpile capacities
- Site-wide water balance
determination
- Reclamation and continued
identification of closure materials
- Continued Agency coordination on MPO
development
Oxide Expansion Drill
Program:
The Company has commenced an 11,000 m drill
program at DeLamar using a sonic drill rig. The drill program will
test approximately 60 million tonnes (“Mt”) of low-grade
gold-silver mineralized material that was stockpiled and/or used as
backfill by previous mine operators at DeLamar from the 1970s to
the late 1990s. The estimated cut-off grade used by previous
operators ranged from 0.80 g/t AuEq and 0.90 g/t AuEq, a cut-off
significantly above that used in the Company’s Pre-feasibility
Study and suggesting that a significant amount of the 60 Mt of
stockpiled material could potentially be amenable to heap leaching.
As this material has already been mined and segregated close to or
within existing planned mining infrastructure, with the associated
mining and stripping costs already incurred by the previous mine
operators, this material has the potential to be a source of
low-cost gold and silver production in future mine plans.
The stockpile drilling program will be executed
at 60 m collar spacing with select 30 m infill test holes. All
drilling will be vertical through the entirety of the stockpiles.
Sampling will be conducted at 1.5 m intervals for the whole of the
drilling with all samples sent to a third-party lab for analysis.
Bottle roll testing will be conducted on crushed material and
column leach testing is planned for select material obtained with
the sonic drill.
Stakeholder Engagement
Integra’s ESP outlines a Social Performance
Management approach that is implemented through a set of objectives
that, together, constitute the Company’s approach to stakeholder
management: 1. Stakeholder Engagement 2. Communications 3.
Community Involvement and Support 4. Monitoring and Reporting. The
strategies and objectives of the ESP continually evolve as
Integra’s staff experience the culture, values, and priorities of
the communities surrounding the DeLamar Project. These four primary
objectives continue to provide the foundational elements of the
Company’s Social Performance Management.
Recent key priorities have focused on
establishing formal policies, procedures, and objective
metric-tracking mechanisms to bolster the Company’s ESP. These
tools establish qualitative Key Performance Indicator (“KPI”)
measurement tools which can be tracked year over year to better
understand the Company’s performance. Additionally, these tools
serve to embed the four tenants of the ESP into the cultural fabric
of Integra as a company now and into the future through formal
adoption of procedures and Company-wide participation.
With all stakeholder engagement activities,
Integra leads with its Core Values of Integrity, Care, and
Innovation. Heavy focus is placed on listening to stakeholders and
ensuring that programs and partnerships align with the culture,
values, and priorities of our diverse stakeholder groups. Integra
focuses on being an active partner in the community, directing our
efforts towards developing lasting, mutually understanding
relationships and generating shared value for all stakeholders, as
well as for the DeLamar Project.
Highlighting Integra’s commitment to responsible
and long-term stakeholder management, in 2021 the Company brought
on a dedicated Community Affairs Manager. This position focuses on
direct stakeholder engagement and leads the implementation of
Integra’s ESP.
Sampling and QA/QC
Procedure
Thorough QA/QC protocols are followed on the
DeLamar Project, including insertion of duplicate, blank and
standard samples in the assay stream for all drill holes. The
samples are submitted directly to American Assay Labs in Reno,
Nevada for preparation and analysis. Analysis of gold is performed
using fire assay method with atomic absorption (AA) finish on a 1
assay ton aliquot. Gold results over 5 g/t are re-run using a
gravimetric finish. Silver analysis is performed using ICP for
results up to 100 g/t on a 5-acid digestion, with a fire
assay, gravimetric finish for results over 100 g/t silver.
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information
contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by E.
Max Baker Ph.D. (F.AusIMM), Integra’s Vice President Exploration of
Post Falls, Idaho, and Tim Arnold (PE, SME), Integra’s Chief
Operating Officer of Reno, Nevada. Both are “Qualified Persons”
(“QP”) as defined in National Instrument 43- 101 – Standards of
Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
About Integra Resources
Integra is a development-stage mining company
focused on the exploration and de-risking of the past producing
DeLamar gold-silver project in Idaho, USA. Integra is led by the
management team from Integra Gold Corp. which successfully grew,
developed and sold the Lamaque Project, in Quebec, for C$600m in
2017. Since acquiring the DeLamar Project, which includes the
adjacent DeLamar and Florida Mountain gold and silver deposits, in
late 2017, the Company has demonstrated significant resource growth
and conversion while providing robust economic studies in its
maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment and now Pre-feasibility
Study (“PFS”). An independent technical report for the PFS on the
DeLamar Project has been prepared in accordance with the
requirements of NI 43-101 and is available under the Company’s
profile at www.sedar.com and on the Company’s website at
www.integraresources.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSGeorge
SalamisPresident, CEO and Director
CONTACT INFORMATIONCorporate Inquiries:
ir@integraresources.comCompany website:
www.integraresources.comOffice phone: 1 (604) 416-0576
Forward looking and other cautionary
statements
This news release contains “forward-looking
information” and “forward-looking statements” (collectively,
“forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of the applicable
Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than
statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and
are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date
of this news release. Any statement that involves discussion with
respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections,
objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often, but
not always using phrases such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”,
“budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”,
“anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative
variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain
actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or
“will” be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of
historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news
release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to:
statements about the scope, timing and completion of the
Pre-feasibility study; estimates of metallurgical recovery rates
and the contribution of silver production to mining operations;
anticipated advancement of DeLamar and future exploration
prospects.These forward-looking statements, and any assumptions
upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our
current judgment regarding the direction of our business.
Management believes that these assumptions are reasonable.
Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results,
performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such
factors include, among others: risks related to the speculative
nature of the Company’s business; the Company’s formative stage of
development; the Company’s financial position; possible variations
in mineralization, grade or recovery rates; actual results of
current exploration activities; actual results of reclamation
activities; conclusions of future economic evaluations; business
integration risks; fluctuations in general macroeconomic
conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in
spot and forward prices of gold, silver, base metals or certain
other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets (such as the
Canadian dollar to United States dollar exchange rate); change in
national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls
regulations and political or economic developments; risks and
hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration,
development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial
accidents, unusual or unexpected formation pressures, cave-ins and
flooding); inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks
and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose
restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and
claims by local communities and indigenous populations;
availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and
labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and
development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses,
permits and approvals from government authorities); and title to
properties. Although the forward-looking statements contained in
this news release are based upon what management of Integra
believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions,
Integra cannot assure its shareholders that actual results will be
consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be
other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated,
or intended.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are
made as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims
any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as
a result of new information, future events or results, except as
may be required by applicable securities laws. There can be no
assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be
accurate, as actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly,
readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
information.
Cautionary Note for U.S. Investors
Concerning Mineral Resources and Reserves
National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects ("NI 43-101") is a rule of the Canadian
Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all
public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical
information concerning mineral projects. Technical disclosure
contained in this news release has been prepared in accordance with
NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and
Petroleum Classification System. These standards differ from
the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(“SEC”) and resource information contained in this
press release may not be comparable to similar information
disclosed by domestic United States companies subject to the SEC's
reporting and disclosure requirements.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its
Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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