This is scandalous. This is the link. This is the contents.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Rio2 Limited (“Rio2” or “the Company”) (TSXV: RIO; OTCQX: RIOFF; BVL: RIO) and its Chilean subsidiary, Fenix Gold Limitada (“Fenix Gold”) announce that the Regional Evaluation Commission which includes 12 governmental institutions has voted for not approving the Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) for its Fenix Gold project in Chile.
Following this decision, the Company will work on evaluating its options and decide on an action plan. Once the action plan is completed, the Company will announce how it intends to execute it and provide the revised timeline. It is important to highlight that Fenix Gold remains with the conviction that it has provided enough technical information and studies to obtain a favorable EIA decision. This is well supported by the position from the Environmental Assessment Service (“SEA”) with the following favorable key considerations:
The Project fulfills all the applicable regulations and meets the environmental requirements for the granting of applicable sectorial permits.
Fenix Gold has satisfactorily completed the 1) Participacin Ciudadana (Citizen Participation) and 2) Consulta Indgena (Indigenous Consultation) processes.
The Fenix Gold Project is an example of modern gold mining where a full complement of technical, environmental, and social considerations have been consulted on and designed in from the outset. The Project represents a significant investment in the gold mining business in Chile by a junior mining company and will generate employment for approximately 1,200 people during the construction phase and 550 people during the 17 years’ operations phase. The mine being contemplated at the Project will be a run-of-mine heap leach operation, no crushing or tailings storage facilities are required thereby minimizing the overall impact and footprint of the project.
ABOUT RIO2 LIMITED
In that NR, this segment is the most informative:
“…Fenix Gold remains with the conviction that it has provided enough technical information and studies to obtain a favorable EIA decision. This is well supported by the position from the Environmental Assessment Service (“SEA”) with the following favorable key considerations“
Or in other words, Chile has made a political decision to block a mining project that complied with the country’s own technical criteria. That means bad news not only for RIO.v, but for any mining company moving a project forward in the country. The message is clear: “Whatever you do, we won’t give you your permit.”
PS: For daily mailer readers seeing this on Wednesday morning, the comments section has more thoughts. Feel free to add your own and throw a few brickbats if so desired, just keep the language clean.