Perpetua Resources: U.S. Forest Service approves Stibnite Gold Project

Perpetua Resources (PPTA) announced that the United States Forest Service has issued the Final Record of Decision authorizing Perpetua’s mine plan for the Stibnite Gold Project. This crucial permitting milestone comes after 8 years of thorough investigation, interagency analysis, consultation, and extensive public feedback on the proposed mine plan of operations. With receipt of the Final ROD, Perpetua Resources is focused on advancing the Project towards a construction decision, including finalizing the remaining federal and state permits and securing project financing. The Project is primed to deliver substantial environmental and economic benefits to the region, and stronger security to the nation. Locally, the Project is anticipated to provide more than one billion investment dollars and an average of 550 jobs to rural Idaho during operations. Expected to be one of the highest-grade open pit gold mines in the country, the Project contains an estimated 4.8-million-ounce gold reserve and is anticipated to produce 450,000 ounces of gold annually over the first four years of production. In addition, the estimated 148-million-pound antimony reserve is the only identified antimony reserve in the United States and is expected to supply roughly 35% of U.S. demand in the first six years of operations, based on 2022 US annual consumption as set forth in the 2023 USGS antimony commodity summary. Antimony is a listed critical mineral for its role in technology, defense, and energy products. However, in a pair of moves in late 2024, China – which is responsible for nearly half of all mined antimony output worldwide – cut off antimony exports globally, including to the United States. By securing a domestic mined antimony supply, the United States can reduce its reliance on foreign antimony producers and suppliers and strengthen its strategic mineral security.