-- Grande Portage Resources (GPG.V) initiated a "formal, comprehensive" Geochemical Characterization Program to advance permitting for the New Amalga Gold property in Southeast Alaska, with samples shipped on April 24, said the company on Wednesday.
Geochemical characterization is a standard environmental study for metals mining projects and this testwork determines whether any of the different types of rock to be produced by the project have the potential to be reactive (acid-generating leading to metals release) over the long term. Previous limited testwork on a small number of New Amalga wallrock samples conducted in 2020-2021 showed favourable results, demonstrating significant net-acid-neutralizing ratios with all samples tested, noted the company.
The current program will test a far larger number of samples which are representative of the different rock types in the areas planned to be extracted under the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) mine plan with an effective date of February 11, 2026, said the company.
In the PEA mine plan all development rock and ore sorter rejects produced by the mine are to be returned underground, primarily in the form of cemented rock fill (CRF) backfill, with no waste rock left on surface stockpiles after closure, it added, noting the testing program will also include the first-ever creation of CRF utilizing New Amalga material.
"The initiation of the geochemical program is a significant milestone in the progression of our environmental studies," said Ian Klassen, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The results of this program will be key inputs for the Federal NEPA environmental review process as well as State of Alaska mining permits. The backfill testing will also provide critical data to inform future engineering and costing studies. We are pleased that the project continues to gather momentum following the outstanding results from our PEA released last month."
Shares in GPG were down $0.03 to $0.365 yesterday.