Predictive Discovery Ltd (ASX:PDI) has been awarded a key environmental certificate for the Bankan Gold Project in Guinea, further derisking the project and marking a critical step in granting the necessary permits required to build Bankan into a Tier-1 gold mine.
The country’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD) approved the Environmental & Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and issued the Certificate of Environmental Compliance (ECC) for the Bankan Gold Project.
Key to mining licence
Importantly, the approval of the ESIA and issuance of the ECC provides the necessary environmental certificate required for PDI (OTC:IDXG) to apply for Bankan’s exploitation licence (mining licence).
It also confirms the MEDD’s support for development of the Bankan Project in the Peripheral Zone of the Upper Niger National Park.
Following significant interaction and dialogue with all critical stakeholder groups on the ESIA, and in direct liaison with the Comité Technique d’Approbation Environnementale (the Technical Committee for Environmental Assessment or 'CTAE'), which is the multi-disciplinary body established by the AGEE to review ESIAs, the company made certain commitments to the MEDD.
As part of the application for the exploitation licence, PDI will relinquish the Bankan permits within the Buffer Zone of the park, where no mining activity will be carried out. This is the protected area closest to the Core Conservation Area of the park.
Relinquishment within the Buffer Zone.
However, both the NEB and BC deposits and the entire development area for the Bankan Project as set out in the pre-feasibility study (PFS) lie outside of the Buffer Zone, so this commitment has no impact on the findings of the April 2024 PFS.
In support of its broader conservation efforts during the development phase, the company will commence a reforestation program at the outer limit of the proposed exploitation permit, closest to the Buffer Zone of the Park.
A critical step
“The awarding of the environmental certificate for the Bankan Gold Project is a critical step in the granting of all the necessary permits required to build Bankan into a Tier-1 gold mine,” PDI managing director Andrew Pardey said.
“This process of further de-risking the project could not have been achieved without the tireless efforts of colleagues and the support and dedication of all of the governmental, non-governmental and technical groups which have worked together to get Bankan to this exciting stage of its development.”
The ESIA is the result of more than two years of environmental and social work, which has included:
- extensive social, biophysical and biodiversity baseline studies conducted from 2022;
- engagement with independent, government and non-governmental environmental and social agencies including local government and community bodies; and
- ESIA delivered to recognised standards of the International Finance Corporation and Equator Principles.
PDI meeting with Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah and officers.
This news coincides with a successful board visit to Guinea which included meetings with the Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah and members of his cabinet, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Djami Diallo and the Ministry of Mines and Geology.
What’s ahead?
PDI intends to file the application for the exploitation permit by the end of the month.
Meanwhile, resource definition drilling programs are continuing at the Fouwagbe and Sounsoun targets in the Argo area, with the aim of completing maiden mineral resource estimates at these targets, as well as the 800W target in the NEB area, during the current quarter.
Exploration drilling is also ongoing in the Argo and Bokoro South areas.
PDI also notes that the definitive feasibility study (DFS) is also advancing according to schedule, and is on track to be completed in the second half of 2025.
Bankan Gold Project.