Prophecy Contracts NewFields to Advance Permitting/EIS for Gibellini Vanadium Project, Sets Project Timetable
Prophecy Contracts NewFields to Advance Permitting/EIS for
Gibellini Vanadium Project, Sets Project Timetable
Vancouver, British Columbia, August 24, 2018 – Prophecy Development Corp.
(“Prophecy” or the “Company”) (TSX:PCY, OTCQX:PRPCF, Frankfurt:1P2N) is pleased to
announce that it has engaged NewFields Companies, LLC (“NewFields”), an environmental,
engineering, and construction management consulting firm to advance permitting and
environmental impact statement (the “EIS”) preparation for the Gibellini vanadium project (the
“Project”).
Prophecy’s and NewFields’ teams will work closely with the Bureau of Land Management
(the “BLM”), the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and other federal and state
permitting agencies to target the filing of all major permitting applications by the end of 2019.
Prophecy anticipates that the Gibellini EIS will not be more than 150 pages (exclu ding
appendices) and the EIS notice of intent ( the “NOI”) will be triggered in 2019 . Should that
occur, the EIS decision for the Project may be rendered in 2020 , according to new
government direction on such matters.
Under the engagement, NewFields will provide comprehensive environmental permitting and
related engineering services that include:
• developing with Prophecy, overall permitting roadmap and budget;
• performing necessary updates to already-filed baseline studies and Management Plan
of Operations (the “MPO”);
• preparation of Water Pollution Control Permit application (the “WPCP”) including
detailed design and engineering analysis;
• preparation of resource report, which is a precursor to trigger the NOI to prepare the
Gibellini EIS; and
• preparation of various federal and state permit applications such as the application for
Air Quality Permit, Surface Disturbance/Class II Operation Permit, Explosives Permit,
Class III Waiver Landfill Permit, Multi‐Sector General Stormwater Permit, Hazardous
Materials Storage Permit, Hazardous Waste Permit, Septic System Permit, Potable
Water System Permit, Dam Safety Permit, and Industrial Artificial Pond Permit.
NewFields completed the Gibellini heap leach pad and waste dump designs (over 40 pages)
as part of an overall basic engineering design lead by Scotia International of Nevada, Inc. in
2014. NewFields’ familiarity with the Project should help to expedite permitting efforts at
Gibellini.
Prophecy has systematically advanced the Gibellini Project in the past 12 months by:
• securing water for future mining operation (power is readily available);
• enlisting a technology partner which owns and operates the world’s largest black-shale
vanadium mine, with a nearly decade-long commercial vanadium recovery and
production experience
• consolidating a package of approximately 27 sq. km of contiguous mining, exploration
and facility land with no known endangered species habitat, or archeological,
agricultural, or aboriginal claims;
• bringing on mining industry veterans who previously worked at Barrick Gold
Corporation and Newmont Mining Corporation (“Newmont”);
• compiling and filing with the BLM, over 1,100 pages of MPO and baseline studies; and
• engaging Amec Foster Wheeler E&C Services Inc. (“AMEC”) and completing the
Preliminary Economic Assessment (the “PEA”) in June 2018, which outlined Gibellini’s
annual production profile of 9.65 million pounds of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) with
operating cost of $4.77 per lb V2O5 and an initial capital cost of $116.76 million
including a 25% contingency. The most recent trading price of V2O5 according to
www.asianmetal.com, as of the date of this press release, is US$18.40/lb.
The PEA is preliminary in nature, and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered
too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would
enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will
be realized. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated
economic viability. The PEA was prepared under the direction of Kirk Hanson, P.E., Technical
Director, Open Pit Mining for AMEC. Mr. Hanson is a “Qualified Person” for the purposes of
National Instrument 43-101, and he is independent of Prophecy.
In July 2018, Prophecy received a 6-page letter from the BLM Mount Lewis Field Office which
contains comments with regard to the submitted MPO. Prophecy is working with NewFields
to address the BLM’s comments. A preliminary assessment carried out by NewFields and
Prophecy indicates that there are no deficiencies identified that are expected to cause delays
to Prophecy’s proposed schedule.
John Lee, the Company’s Executive Chairman, states: “Prophecy has set out a plan to
complete the Gibellini permitting and EIS in 2020, and will be issuing updates throughout the
next 18 months as each permit application is filed with the relevant agencies.
Together with the Company’s news release announcing engineering, procurement,
construction and management work progress dated August 15, 2018, Prophecy’s objective
is to clear all pre-requisites for the Project construction, start the Project construction in 2021,
and deliver the first batch of vanadium pentoxide product on site in 2022.
We believe the Gibellini Project is years ahead of other North American primary vanadium
projects in terms of the time to deliver the vanadium product to the market, and we are on
target to transform the Gibellini Project to become the first primary vanadium producing mine
in the United States.”
Relevant NewFields experience:
In 2014-2018, NewFields successfully obtained several WPCP approvals in Nevada
including: approvals for Newmont’s Long Canyon gold project with carbon in column
processing method, located in Elko; Kinross Gold Corporation’s Bald Mountain gold project
with heap leach facility, located in White Pine County; and West Kirkland Mining Inc.’s Three
Hills gold and silver project with heap leach facility, located in Esmeralda County.
About NewFields
NewFields is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA with offices in over 10 cities in the
United States and has offices in Canada, the UK, Brazil and Mexico. NewFields has over 100
employees dedicated exclusively to supporting the mining industry and its expertise includes
environmental and permitting services, construction management and quality assurance
services for tailing storage facilities, heap leach facilities, waste rock storage facilities, civil
and geotechnical engineering design services, hydrological and hydrogeological engineering
and associated mine site infrastructure. NewFields’ staff has provided design and
construction services on over 80 heap leach facilities projects with an aggregate lined area
of over one billion square feet in over 20 countries and in a variety of climatic conditions
ranging from extremely wet and extremely dry to arctic conditions.
Qualified Person
The technical content of this news release has been prepared under the supervision of
Danniel Oosterman, VP, Exploration. Mr. Oosterman is not independent of the Company in
that he is employed as a consultant to the Company and most of his income is derived from
the Company. Mr. Oosterman is a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.
About Prophecy
Prophecy Development Corp. is a Canadian public company listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange. Prophecy's main objective is to develop the Gibellini primary vanadium mining
project in the Battle Mountai n region in northeastern Nevada to production. Further
information on Prophecy can be found at www.prophecydev.com.
PROPHECY DEVELOPMENT CORP.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“JOHN LEE”
Executive Chairman
For more information about Prophecy, please contact Investor Relations:
+1.888.513.6286
www.prophecydev.com
Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is
defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy
or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements which may contain
words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “estimates”, or similar
expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historical facts, are forward -
looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward -looking
statements, which reflect management’s expectations regarding Prophecy’s future growth,
results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities, are based on
certain factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties
which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different
from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-
looking statements.
These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance
on the Prophecy’s forward -looking statements. Prophecy believes that the expectations
reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release and the documents
incorporated by reference herein are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these
expectations will prove to be correct. In addition, although Prophecy has attempted to identify
important factors that coul d cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from
those described in forward looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions,
events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Prophecy undertakes no
obligation to release publicly any future revisions to forward -looking statements to reflect
events or circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events, except as expressly required by law.