This could explain the delays and the reason to stockpile equipment instead of building the plant ???
Almonyty inherited poisoned ground by decades of neglect, and knew it.
Not good news, and should be the first questions asked in the 7.IIF Q&A.
Transparency is very opaque. From Bazza88 a HotCopper poster 02/04/2023 :- "I am not sure whether it has been covered in previous threads, but the Company appears not to have addressed the fact that its Development Permit expired in 2021 and has not been extended by MOTIE, which has ruled that Almonty must take responsibility for soil contamination, which is estimated to cost upwards of USD20m.... no mention of this by Lewis Black in his presentation.... instead, the Company states that Sandong is fully permitted - how can this be the case when it doesn't have a current Development Permit ? see : https://m.sentv.co.kr/news/view/639121 The article, written Dec 22, states : " Around October of last year, Almonty was investigated by related agencies for contaminating the Han River water system with a first-class carcinogen through illegal dumping of thousands of tons of contaminated soil into national forests and unauthorized discharge of contaminated waste soil and wastewater.
At that time, Yeongwol-gun and related organizations conducted a detailed soil investigation on the Almonty Sangdong Mine factory site, road and river section, and found that arsenic, a first-class carcinogen, was 6,104.36 mg/kg, which is 30 times higher than the environmental standard, and a highly toxic heavy metal at the planned factory site . Phosphorus fluoride shocked the public by revealing that it was 51,062 mg/kg, up to 64 times higher than the standard.
It was also confirmed that arsenic and fluoride in residential areas exceeded the standard by a maximum of 18 and 12 times, respectively, and rivers through Sangdong-eup exceeded 3.8 times - 4.3 times and 2.9 times - 3.1 times, respectively, posing a direct threat to the survival rights of downstream residents.
On August 26, Yeongwol-gun issued an order to purify the soil to Almontie based on the results of a soil investigation, but it was disobeyed.
In addition, Sangdong Mine contamination was not their own act, but the soil was already contaminated during the former) Daehan Jungseok period, and suggested the application of the 'Act on the Prevention and Recovery of Mine Damage' (hereinafter referred to as the Mine Damage Prevention Act) and requested the corporation to bear the cost of soil remediation . .
However, from January 24, 2007, when Almonty received and registered the mining rights for Sangdong Mine from Mr. A, a former mining right holder, Almonty took over the mine damage prevention responsibility for the mine, and the current Sangdong Mine The mine damage prevention mandate was nailed to Almonty.
Clearly there is huge local opposition and in addition the Korean Gvt authorities are insisting that Almonty is responsible for the soil contamination. Have Black and Frazer disclosed all of this to investors in the recent placements ? Prima facie case for fraudulent misrepresentation if they haven't."
From the same poster earlier on this HotCopper thread :-
"The person who should be addressing all these issues and fronting Australian shareholders is the Australian director, Andrew Frazer, who I understand was pivotal in arranging the ASX listing."