- Southern Gold has announced its ‘Permit to Develop’ for the Gubong Gold Mine has been approved by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE)
- Southern Gold and Bluebird each hold a 50 per cent interest in the Gubong Project joint venture
- Southern Gold is expecting to receive the formal documents from MOTIE within the next few weeks
Southern Gold has announced its ‘Permit to Develop’ for the Gubong Gold Mine has been approved by South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE).
According to the company, this is the first Permit to Develop issued to a foreign operator since Indochina Goldfields received its approval for the Eunsan gold deposit in the late 1990’s.
Southern Gold and, London-listed company, Bluebird Merchant Ventures each hold a 50 per cent interest in Singaporean company, Gubong Project JV Co.
The Gubong Gold project is located in South Korea, near Daejeon and consists of a number of historical mines. The project was South Korea’s largest gold producer from 1930 to 1943.
Southern Gold Managing Director Simon Mitchell says this is a very important milestone for the joint venture partners.
“I congratulate Bluebird as operators in securing the Permit to Develop for Gubong, the first in many years for a foreign operator, at least as far as we are aware,” he said.
“This approval paves the way for the joint venture to take the Gubong project forward and target first gold pour in 2020, another very important milestone that is now closer to being achieved,” he added.
The company is expecting to receive the formal documentations from MOTIE over the next few weeks.
Simon says this was an extremely rapid approval process, taking less than one year since its initial submission.
“The South Korean centralised regulatory approach has resulted in an efficient turn around while retaining a comprehensive review system,” he added.
Southern Gold said a similar joint venture arrangement is in place for the Kochang Project which is currently still in the approval process for its Permit to Develop.