Axo Metals (TSX-V:AXO) has secured environmental approval for its San Antonio Gold Project in Mexico, clearing a key permitting hurdle as the company works towards bringing its first mine into production.
Mexico’s environmental authority, SEMARNAT, approved the project’s environmental impact statement, covering existing infrastructure and the current mineral resources across all deposits at San Antonio.
The project, located in Sonora, hosts a former-producing oxide copper mine that later transitioned into gold processing. The site has an existing 4,000-tonne-per-day mill and a resource base of more than 1.1 million ounces across five deposits.
Axo says it is now completing a routine administrative process related to land-use changes before mining can begin at the main Sapuchi, Golfo de Oro, and California deposits.
The company adds that existing infrastructure, including the Luz del Cobre open pit, stockpiles, waste dumps, carbon-in-column processing plant, and camp, is already fully permitted and requires no further land-use approvals.
“We are excited and committed to leveraging our existing infrastructure at San Antonio and returning the project to production,” CEO Jonathan Egilo says.
Meanwhile, the Axo team is also looking to expand the existing San Antonio gold resource, having identified 12 exploration targets across four mineral trends. Drilling is currently underway, as the company prepares for a preliminary economic assessment.
Axo acquired the project from Osisko Gold Group (TSX-V:OGG) — formerly Osisko Development – in January in exchange for a 9.99% equity stake in the company. Prior to that, Axo’s only asset was the La Huerta copper project in Jalisco.
Axo Metals is a Canadian mineral exploration company engaged in the exploration and development in Mexico.
Write to Jackson Chen at Mining.com.au
Image: Axo Metals
