Luminex Resources (TSXV: LR | OTCQX: LUMIF) has announced reaching an agreement with informal miners in the Condor North portion of its Condor gold project in southeast Ecuador.
The agreement was signed with Minera La Pangui SAS, the local entity that incorporates members of the nearby informal mining associations, including 19 mining operators, most of which hold historical operating permits granted by the government within the project.
These mining permits are expiring soon, a condition which has generated concern among shareholders of the local entity regarding their future prospects as the Condor project advances.
For the project to advance successfully towards production, Luminex believed that a sustainable solution to the issues had to be found, with negotiations towards an agreement beginning in February 2022.
The agreement enables the company to secure areas close to Condor North, and at the same time, satisfies the decades-long desire of the miners to gain legal mineral concession rights over informal mining properties in the company’s Chinapintza area.
Specifically, the company has agreed to divide its Chinapintza concession into four new mining titles, one of which (La Pangui, 53ha) will be transferred to the local entity. The transfer of this title will ensure that the informal miners have legally secure and long-term mineral concessions, along with the obligation to obtain all the regulatory and environmental permits and licences necessary for the mining operations.
This was possible, because, based on past exploration and technical studies, the company determined that these areas were not required for the development of the Condor project, now or in the future. Once the transfer of the mining title is completed, the local entity will grant Luminex a voluntary mining easement for the duration of said mining title and its renewals and extensions.
The Condor project is located in Zamora-Chinchipe province, about 35km south of the Fruta del Norte mine held by Lundin Gold. Condor North represents a recently discovered area containing multiple open pit deposits that are expected to produce 187,000oz gold and 758,000oz silver annually over a 12-year life.
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