U.S. Gold Corp CEO says financing pause won't delay gold mine opening

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced June 25 that it approved a change in the construction schedule for the CK Gold Mine west of Cheyenne.

U.S. Gold Corp., the gold exploration and development company spearheading the CK Gold Mine, requested the change in May.

The CK Gold Mine is a proposed copper and gold mine to be built on land 20 miles west of Cheyenne in the Silver Crown Mining District, neighboring Curt Gowdy State Park. It would be an open-pit mine, employing froth flotation instead of using cyanide to extract the minerals.

According to previous reporting by the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, the mine would likely operate for 10 to 12 years, followed by restoration of the land for cattle grazing, which is what the land is currently used for.

U.S. Gold Corp President and CEO George Bee told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on Wednesday that the newly approved construction schedule, which has construction starting on or before June 30, 2027, will not affect the mine’s projected operational start date, which he previously told WTE would be late 2027 to early 2028.

“We essentially just started the construction of the entryway so that we could get off of the county road for safety reasons,” Bee said. “All we’ve done now is just paused while we complete our financing activities so that we can see the project all the way through to completion.”

Bee said he’s aiming to begin construction of the mine later this year, with the bulk of construction activity taking place in 2027 so the mine can be operational in or before 2028.

U.S. Gold Corp recently completed various studies, such as its feasibility study, and most of the finances went toward funding those, as well as permits.

Now, Bee said the company needs to raise the capital needed for construction, which totals approximately $400 million.

“The next step is just to make sure that whoever invests in the project, that we’ve got a full pathway to completing the job,” Bee said. “We’ve got money in the bank at the moment, but not for construction, and that’s what we’re financing at the moment.”

The DEQ’s order was officially issued June 19. According to the order, CK Gold construction “shall resume on or before June 30, 2027, provided that CK Gold provides the (Industrial Siting Council) information demonstrating the project’s financial viability at least 30 days before construction resumes.”

Bee said he’s confident that U.S. Gold will gather the $400 million solely through investors due to the demand for copper and gold.

“We’re just eager to get going,” Bee said. “But we have to allow all the people that are interested in investing — and there are many because we intend on producing copper and gold, which is very much in demand at the moment — but the folks investing need time to do their due diligence on all of the studies that we’ve done.”

Courtesy: www.wyomingnews.com