Sarytogan Graphite Ltd (ASX:SGA) has received notification from the Ministry of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan that its Mining Licence application will be granted, which will allow it to proceed with the Sarytogan Graphite Project.
The licence is contingent upon obtaining the environmental permit in the next one year – a timetable that may be extended by the Competent Authority if necessary.
Environmental approvals underway
The delivery of the requisite environmental permit is well underway, with the regulator conducting a screening of the relevant environmental factors and scoping the desktop EIA requirements.
The company has submitted its draft EIA which has been publicly advertised.
A public hearing was held in the village of Akshi, 12 kilometres north of Sarytogan, on Friday, June 28, where attendees were reportedly supportive of jobs being created in the region.
The company must now follow the usual process of addressing any public comments before the expert commission makes its determination.
Meanwhile, the company has nearly wrapped up a pre-feasibility study (PFS) which considers a 50,000 tonnes per annum development of the Sarytogan Graphite Project.
The study is on track to be published no later than September 30 this year.
Sarytogan managing director Sean Gregory said: “Notification from the Kazakh Competent Authority that the Sarytogan Mining Licence will be granted subject to the Environment Permit is a highly significant milestone for the company.
Diligent process
“It is the culmination of a diligent process followed by the company’s local team that is continuing with the Environmental Permit process.
“It provides a clear development pathway for the Sarytogan Graphite Project to compliment the PFS which is on track for publication no later than 30 September 2024”
This follows an extensive process by the team at Sarytogan’s 100%-owned Kazakh subsidiary Ushtogan LLP including:
- negotiating a land access agreement with the local farm and land user;
- preparing a closure plan in 2023 which was approved by the Department of the Industrial Safety Committee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations on August 9, 2023;
- converting the high-grade 229-million-tonne at 28.9% TGC indicated and inferred mineral resource from the Australian JORC Code to the Kazakh KAZRC code;
- submitting the mining licence application on April 23;
- approval of the mining licence application boundaries by the Geological Committee on June 3; and
- notification from the Competent Authority on June 27 that the mining licence will be granted, subject to the receipt of the environmental permit within one year.