General Moly Settles Last Protest Over Water Rights

Industrial metals-focused General Moly’s (TSX:GMO,NYSEAMERICAN:GMO) joint venture company Eureka Moly has reached a settlement with a Kobeh Valley ranching family over protests over the company’s water rights in Nevada.

Eureka Moly is jointly owned by General Moly (80 percent) and POS-Minerals, a subsidiary of South Korean company POSCO (NYSE:POSCO). The company has been working to get the Mount Hope molybdenum project fully permitted and up and running.

This was the last of several protests that have been raised over the last year and half in relation to Eureka Moly’s water permits and use.

“(Under the arrangement,) the ranchers have agreed to withdraw all of their protests and forfeit any rights to judicial review of the Nevada State Engineer’s anticipated approval of the water applications and issuance of water permits,” General Moly said in a statement.

“Additionally, the ranchers have agreed not to oppose any other proceedings with any state or federal agency related to the Mount Hope project.”

Mount Hope is anticipated to be one of the largest exclusively molybdenum projects, with an expected life of mine of more than a decade.

“We are extremely pleased to have reached a compromise settlement with the ranchers and have now resolved all remaining protests filed with the Nevada State Engineer to the water permit application for the Mount Hope project,” said CEO Bruce Hansen.

“We will continue to focus on the future development of the Mount Hope moly mine for the economic betterment of the broader community and the state of Nevada.”

After the water permits are received, private Chinese company AMER International will provide an investment of US$10 million through a third tranche private placement of 20 million General Moly common shares.

“We are on the cusp of having the Mount Hope project fully permitted as the federal Bureau of Land Management is finalizing its review of public comments recently received on the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and preparing a final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement ahead of issuing the anticipated Record of Decision later this year,” Hansen added.

Molybdenum prices have increased by 20 percent since 2017 and are expected to continue to trend higher as demand out of China remains steady.

Shares of General Moly were up 23.54 percent on Tuesday (May 14), trading at US$0.25.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.