Adriatic Metals PLC (LSE:ADT1, ASX:ADT, OTCQX:ADMLF) has received full government approval to begin constructing a tailings storage facility at its Veovaca site in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Permits were granted on Thursday (October 24) by the Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining, and Industry, which allows the company to begin disposing of tailings – or leftover mined material – by December 2024.
The approval follows a July court ruling restricting Adriatic's use of state forest land for tailings storage.
In response, Adriatic selected an alternative site at the former Veovaca open-pit mine, approximately two kilometres from the Vares Processing Plant, where Adriatic holds full ownership rights.
The Veovaca facility will use a "dry stack" approach, a method that stores solid tailings without the need for a liquid reservoir, considered safer and more stable than traditional tailings ponds.
It will be built in two phases, with the first designed to handle four to five years of production waste. The initial stage is projected to cost $5 million.
"As Adriatic aims for the initial construction phase of the Veovaca TSF to be completed by the end of 2024, there will be no impact on production or the current ramp-up to commercial production due to tailings storage capacity expected in the current quarter," investors were told.