Name of the Project
Black Pine oxide gold project.

Location
Cassia and Oneida counties, in Idaho, in the US.

Project Owner/s
Mineral properties developer Liberty Gold, through its wholly owned subsidiary Pilot Gold.

Project Description
The project consists of three large deposits and several smaller deposits that are planned to be developed using conventional openpit mining methods over a 17-year life-of-mine (LoM).

Gold will be recovered using run-of-mine (no crushing, screening or agglomeration) heap leaching, with material delivered by mine haul truck stacking onto a single heap-leach pad at the eastern extent of the project. 

The pad is designed in four phases to contain up to 315-million dry tonnes of leachable material, with operational segregation of the oxide ore types in isolated cells on the leach pad to prevent co-mingling. 

Ore feed to the leach pad is planned at 18.3-million tonnes a year over the LoM, with average yearly gold production over the LoM estimated at 135 000 oz. Leached gold will be recovered from the solution using a three-train, activated carbon adsorption circuit.

LoM production is estimated 2.2-million ounces.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
At a gold price of $2 000 (base case) the project has a pretax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $656-million and an internal rate of return if 34%, with an after-tax back of 3.3 years.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital expenditure is estimated at $326.6-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Liberty Gold has reached a major permitting milestone after US federal agencies deemed the project’s mine plan of operations (MPO) “administratively complete”.

The US Forest Service  and Bureau of Land Management has confirmed that the MPO meets federal content standards, enabling the project to advance to the next stage of the permitting process, including review under the National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa).

The MPO outlines proposed mining, processing, environmental protections and reclamation plans based on the project’s 2024 prefeasibility study. It forms the foundation of a forthcoming environmental-impact statement (EIS), to be prepared by US-based engineering and environmental consultancy Stantec, appointed as the independent third-party contractor.

The company has said the MPO was prepared in close cooperation with federal and Idaho state agencies under an interagency memorandum of understanding signed in early 2025. Liberty Gold has addressed extensive comments during the initial review process.

Next steps include the publication of a notice of intent in the federal register, which will formally begin the Nepa review and launch public scoping meetings with agencies, Tribal Nations and local stakeholders. The EIS process is expected to span about 24 months and will evaluate impacts on water, air quality, wildlife, vegetation, cultural resources and reclamation, as well as potential alternatives and mitigation measures.

Liberty Gold is advancing state-level permits in parallel, including water rights, air quality, reclamation and cyanidation permits, aligned with Idaho’s SPEED Act to streamline permitting processes.

The completeness determination awkward is “a major permitting achievement” for the project and the state, Liberty Gold CEO Jon Gilligan has said, adding that “this milestone brings us one step closer to a construction decision as we continue to demonstrate that Black Pine is one of the most significant oxide gold development opportunities in the Great basin”. 

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
SLR Consulting (mineral resource estimate); AGP Mining Consultants (mineral reserve estimate); GL Simmons Consulting (metallurgy); NewFields Companies (heap design and closure); M3 Engineering & Technology Corp (mineral processing and financial evaluation); Piteau Associates (hydrology); Knight Piésold (geotechnical engineering); and Westland Engineering & Environmental Services (environmental permitting and compliance).

Contact Details for Project Information
Liberty Gold Corp, tel +1 604 632 4677 or email info@libertygold.ca.