Pebble Creek gets penultimate permit for Askot in India

It’s been thirteen long years in the making but Pebble Creek Mining (PEB-V, PBLEF-O) is now just one step away from getting a mining lease for its Askot project in the scenic foothills of the Himalayas in India’s northern state of Uttarakhand near the border with Nepal.

The company said today it has received final environmental clearance from the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests for commercial production on its flagship Askot project as well as the first stage forest clearance permit from Uttarakhand’s Forest Department.

It can now file an application for the second stage forest clearance permit — the last permit required for the final grant and execution of a 30-year mining lease.

In order to secure the second stage forest clearance permit, Pebble Creek must ensure there is adequate compensation for the trees that are removed from the mine site. It must also show that it has an approved plan to reforest the area and a program to protect indigenous wildlife.

The company says it has been drafting such plans for many months with the advice of field officers from the Forest Department.

Askot is a copper-zinc volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit that also contains significant gold, silver and lead values.
The independent National Instrument 43-101 indicated mineral resource estimated by SRK Consulting is 1.86 million tonnes containing 2.62% copper, 3.83% lead, 5.80% zinc, 38 grams per tonne of silver and 0.48 gram gold per tonne.

The deposit was drilled and tunneled in a series of programs by the United Nations Development Programme and several Indian government agencies between 1965 and 1988.

In 1975, the Geological Survey of India calculated a resource estimate of 770,000 tonnes grading 2.3% copper, 3.9% zinc, and 2.6% lead.

Subsequent historic estimates in the late 1980s projected about 1.2-1.35 million tonnes averaging about 2.1% copper, 5.1-5.3% zinc and 3.5-5.1% zinc.

The company says it is in discussions with an Asian copper company about financing for additional drilling and a feasibility study on Askot.

Pebble Creek is currently trading at about 8 per share. It has a 52-week trading range of 1-31 per share and has 33.2 million shares outstanding.