Panamint Valley, Inyo County, Ca. – Black Swan Advisors (BSA) and its partner BMC have announced it has received Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approval for a drilling plan (Drill Plan) and Environmental Assessment (EA) at its Keystone mine in Panamint Valley, Inyo County, Ca. This approval will allow BSA to move forward with a 45-hole surface Drill Plan and will resume underground mine development under its Plan of Operations permits (POOs) for the Keystone mine. BLM issued its FNSI (Finding of No Significant Impacts) and ROD (Record of Decision) on November 28, 2018. Copies of both documents are available by contacting Charles McLaughlin of BSA at cjm@blackswanadvisors.net
A BMC principal stated “These permit approvals give BMC strong control over the south end of the Panamint Valley mining district, which is coupled with its Radcliffe mine complex at the north end of Panamint Valley. Radcliffe is just 15 miles from Keystone, which will allow joint operation of both mines”. BMC added “We are in negotiations on additional mining properties within this district and plan to expand our resource count from 600,000 to 700,000 ounces of gold, .4 to .7 OPT, to a resource count approaching 1 Million ounces”. BSA’s McLaughlin added “Both our Radcliffe and Keystone mines have on-processing approvals within their permits which will allow us to add mines quickly, and at a high margin”. The BMC principal also offered “We are looking forward to adding back many good paying mining jobs to the Inyo County economy”.
BSA is now reviewing proposals from underground mining contractors to operate both mines. McLaughlin observed “We are planning to restart production at both mines during early to mid-2019 as allowed under our existing permits. We are also seeking proposals to implement the surface drilling plan and a new underground drilling plan at both mines.
Keystone has been approved for underground mining 3 times; first in 1981(Original POO), then again in 1984, in 1988, and now in 2018. Each time an updated EA was required to confirm environmental conditions at the mine. The 2018 EA demonstrated that there were no significant environmental impacts from the operation of the mine. Keystone was first operated in the 1940s. There is substantial infrastructure in place, including drifts, tunnels, and maintenance roads. The Keystone mine covers 1,000 acres in 48 BLM lode mining claims, 4 mill site claims, and a 1941 water permit at a spring close to Keystone. According to McLaughlin, “Both the Keystone and Radcliffe have dedicated water resources. Additionally, Keystone and Radcliffe have permit approvals to conduct on-site ore processing. This will materially reduce the impact from ore carrying truck traffic”.
Finally, McLaughlin added that BMC is considering other operating alternatives, including business combinations with other mining companies, joint ventures, or other arrangements with lenders/capital providors: “We can see some real advantages from combining our unleveraged mines with a public mining company with their own good mine management team; they would bring us needed mining expertise, and we will bring added financial capacity; a good combination for both entities”. McLaughlin advised “Principals and brokers with good ideas in this area are encouraged to contact me at cjm@blackswanadvisors.net to present their suggestions. We have no debt and no partners, so we can move quickly on constructive ideas”.
Interested parties can see additional details at our gold mine investing page.