Kingsrose Mining (ASX: KRM) has received a Derogation Permit from the Ministry of the Environment following its review of the Natura 2000 Assessment prepared by the Company for Area 1 of the Penikat PGE-nickel-copper project in Finland.
The Permit is an important milestone in the process required to obtain an exploration licence to commence drilling in Area 1 of the Penikat Project.
Area 1 includes 77 proposed drill pads to test a cumulative strike length of 4 kilometres of the SJ and AP reefs, which includes the ‘ballroom’ feature where historical drilling intercepted 8.8 metres @ 8.1 g/t Pd, 2.3 g/t Pt & 0.5 g/t Au from surface.
This Permit allows the exploration licence awarding authority ‘TUKES’ to process the Company’s application for an exploration licence, which the company expects to receive during Q3 CY2024 and would permit drilling to commence in December 2024. However, this timeframe may be extended if appeals to the Permit or the exploration licence are lodged which is considered likely by the company.
The Permit has been granted for an initial two years (to 5 June 2026) to allow for consideration of the potential cumulative impacts of nearby wind power projects which will be the subject of ongoing studies by Kingsrose in order to support an application for extensions to this timeframe.
Kingsrose will proceed to finalise and submit the Natura 2000 Assessment for Areas 2-5 based on the learnings from the Area 1 process.
“The receipt of this Permit from the Ministry, confirming that our proposed exploration drilling will not negatively impact the integrity of the Natura 2000 area, is a positive key step in the permitting process at Penikat,” Managing Director, Fabian Baker, said.
“Kingsrose has worked closely with local and international experts to survey the environmental values of the area and design a best-in-class low impact drilling plan. We will continue our work to meet our permitting timelines as best we can.”
