Southern Empire Updates Status of Environmental Permitting for the Oro Cruz Project
Southern Empire Updates Status of
Environmental Permitting for the Oro Cruz
Project
VANCOUVER, BC
,
Nov. 16, 2022
/CNW/ - Southern Empire Resources Corp. (Southern Empire)
(TSXV: SMP) (
Frankfurt
: 5RE) (OTCQB: SMPEF) is pleased to provide an update on the status of
the proposed Oro Cruz Project exploration Plan of Operations (the "Plan"), which was submitted to
the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") on
September
28, 2020
, and determined by the BLM to be administratively and technically complete and consistent
with U.S. federal regulations one year ago on
November 16, 2021
. Since then, the Plan has been
subject to significant and rigorous environmental and cultural reviews pursuant to
the United States
National Environmental Policy Act
("NEPA") and the
California Environmental Quality Act
("CEQA").
These extensive national and state reviews were respectively led by the BLM's El Centro Field
Office and the Imperial County Planning Department ("ICPD"). These agencies are now in the
process of preparing a joint, draft Environmental Assessment/Mitigated Negative Declaration (the
"draft EA/MND"), which will provide a complete analysis of the effects on natural, environmental,
cultural, and recreational resources that the agencies have determined to be present and potentially
affected by the Southern Empire's proposed Oro Cruz Project exploration activities.
Southern Empire anticipates the imminent publication by the BLM of its draft EA/MND, together with
an unsigned Finding of No Significant Impact ("FONSI"), which will be followed by an additional 30-
day review period during which substantive comments regarding the Plan will be solicited from the
public. Also, an informational virtual public meeting is tentatively planned by the BLM for the end of
November. Only after subsequent review of the public comments received will the BLM make a final
decision regarding authorization of the proposed exploration activities outlined in the Plan.
Additionally, a 582-page Reclamation Plan for compliance with the
State of California's
Surface
Mining and Reclamation Act
("SMARA") was submitted on
June 24, 2022
, to the California
Department of Conservation's Division of Mine Reclamation ("DMR") for their review. The
Reclamation Plan is now considered to be complete subsequent to DMR's review and comments
received on
October 28, 2022
and is available to read at:
SMP - Oro Cruz Project,
Imperial County, California
- Reclamation Plan 20220928
.
The Imperial County Planning Department will be holding an Environmental Evaluation Committee
public hearing on
November 17, 2022
for review of the adequacy of the CEQA analysis within the
EA/MND. This meeting will be held at
1:30 p.m.
in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 940 Main
Street,
El Centro, California
.
Following the NEPA and CEQA public review periods, the BLM and
Imperial County
will coordinate
with Southern Empire's third-party NEPA and CEQA contractors to revise the draft EA/MND as
deemed necessary and respond to any public comments received in order for the agencies to reach
a decision on the Oro Cruz Project, now expected in Q1 2023.
Proposed Surface Exploration Work Pursuant to the BLM-Approved Plan of
Operations:
All proposed exploration activities are to be conducted to avoid unnecessary and undue
degradation of public lands and resources.
Establishment of 65 drill pads to support surface exploration in seven drill target areas.
Reverse Circulation (RC) and/or core drilling of up to 65 drill holes.
Construction of approximately 2.94 kilometres (km; 1.83 miles) of new, permanent access
roads; approximately 9.98 km (6.2 miles) of temporary drill site access roads; and
approximately 4.21 km (2.62 miles) of improvements to existing roads.
Creation of a 1.05-hectare (2.6-acre) staging area at the Cross Mine underground portal for
infrastructure related to future underground and surface exploration.
Disturbance of up to only 8.3 hectares (20.5 acres) within an approximately 253-hectare
(approximately 626 acres) portion of the Oro Cruz property located within the 184,500-acre
Picacho Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
Summary of the Oro Cruz Exploration Project Permitting Process, to date:
The Plan was deemed complete by the BLM on
September 28
, 2020 for Southern Empire's
proposed surface exploration activities located within the Picacho ACEC.
Environmental, biological, cultural, and hydrological baseline studies were completed in
preparation for analysis in the permitting processes.
The BLM published a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register and distributed a related press
release to initiate the NEPA-required public scoping process for the solicitation of public
comments related to the preparation of the draft EA/MND. A 30-day public scoping period
began on
March 04
, 2022 and 5 comments were received from the public.
A Reclamation Plan for compliance with the
State of California's
Surface Mining and
Reclamation Act
(SMARA) was prepared and submitted to the DMR on
June 24
, 2022 and is
considered to be complete subsequent to DMR's review and comments received on
October
28, 2022
.
The NEPA and CEQA processes are concurrently engaged to allow for effective coordination
and collaboration between Southern Empire, the BLM, and the ICPD.
Imperial County Planning Department will be holding an Environmental Evaluation Committee
public hearing on
November 17, 2022
, for review of the adequacy of the CEQA analysis within
the draft EA/MND.
All permitting decisions are now anticipated to be in place by the end of Q1 2023.
Southern Empire's environmental and permitting efforts are coordinated by Del Fortner Consulting of
Tucson, Arizona
. Our team includes:
Stantec Consulting Services Inc., an international firm that liaises directly with both the BLM and
the ICPD to prepare NEPA documentation for the BLM and coordinate the CEQA environmental
review process with the ICPD.
Sespe Consulting, Inc., specialists on SMARA and CEQA baseline environmental analysis,
permitting and reclamation plan requirements, that assist in document preparation for the CEQA
analysis.
WestLand Resources, Inc., specialists in environmental engineering, permitting and planning,
have completed the Oro Cruz Project baseline environmental and cultural studies and have
provided documentation and services necessary to comply with both the NEPA and CEQA
permitting requirements.
Qualified Person (QP)
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been prepared, reviewed
and approved by
David Tupper
, P.Geo. (
British Columbia
), Southern Empire's VP Exploration and a
Qualified Person within the context of Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-
101; Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).
About Southern Empire Resources Corp.
Southern Empire is focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of metals and minerals
deposits in
North America
.
In northeastern Durango State, México, Southern Empire has an option to acquire a 100-per-cent
beneficial interest in the 1,750-hectare Pedro Gold Project. At Pedro, in the spring of 2022,
Southern Empire drilled gold mineralization approximately 800 metres from 2014 drilling by a
subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation. Gold mineralization, associated with highly anomalous
arsenic (orpiment and realgar common), antimony, mercury and thallium, has been identified hosted
in permeable basal conglomerates deposited during Oligocene extensional deformation, the
latter forming widespread Basin and Range physiography along the easter part of Sierra Madre
Occidental. Gold is present in 12 of the 17 holes drilled at Pedro to date. Please see Southern
Empire's news releases posted on
SEDAR
for further details.
In the Cargo Muchacho mountains of
Imperial County, California
, Southern Empire owns 100 percent
of the historical gold-producing American Girl mine property and holds options to acquire a 100
percent interest in the adjacent 2,160-hectare (5,338-acre) Oro Cruz Property located
approximately 22.5 kilometres (14 miles) southeast of the operating Mesquite gold mine of Equinox
Gold Corp.
At Oro Cruz, extensive historical drilling and large-scale open-pit and underground mining of the
American Girl, Padre y Madre, Queen, and Cross oxide gold deposits by the American Girl Mining
Joint Venture ("AGMJV") occurred between 1987 and 1996. During that time, gold was recovered
by either heap leaching of lower-grade, or milling of higher-grade ores until AGMJV operations
ceased in late 1996 because of declining gold prices leaving the Oro Cruz Property with many gold
exploration targets in addition to a historical inferred resource estimate, reported In 2011 by Lincoln
Mining Corp., totaling 341,800 ounces gold based on 4,386,000 tonnes averaging 2.2 grams gold
per tonne (g Au /t) at a cut-off grade of 0.68 g Au/t (4,835,000 tons at 0.07 ounce gold per ton;
please refer to the Cautionary Notice Regarding the Oro Cruz Property Historical Resource Estimate
below).
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Southern Empire Resources Corp.,
Dale Wallster
, CEO and Director
Cautionary Notice on Forward-Looking Information
Information provided in this news release may contain forward-looking information or forward-looking
statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. Such information or
statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations and are not
guarantees of future performance. Southern Empire cautions that all forward-looking statements are
inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by many material factors, many of
which are beyond its respective control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and
uncertainties relating to Southern Empire's limited operating history, the need to comply with
environmental and governmental regulations, results of exploration programs on its projects, and
those risks and uncertainties identified in its annual and interim financial statements and management
discussion and analysis. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions, and results may differ
materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations expressed or implied in the
forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Southern
Empire undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.
Cautionary Notice Regarding Historical Resource Estimate
The Oro Cruz Project historical resource estimate is disclosed in a technical report dated
April 29,
2011
, prepared for Lincoln Mining Corp. by Tetra Tech, Inc. and filed on Canadian Securities
Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR"). It is termed an
inferred mineral resource, which is a category set out in NI 43-101. It was based on historical
reverse circulation and core drill hole sample, underground channel sample, and blasthole sample
assay results and calculated using ordinary kriging to estimate gold grades in 10-foot-by-10-foot-by-
five-foot blocks. Accordingly, Southern Empire considers this historical estimate reliable as well as
relevant as it represents key targets for future exploration work. However, a QP has not done
sufficient work to verify or classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource and Southern
Empire is not treating this historical estimate as current mineral resources.
Cautionary Notice Regarding Exploration
Work Programs
The timing and the ability to conduct Southern Empire's exploration programs are, among other
things, contingent on: governmental regulations allowing for the issuance of permits; affects of the
COVID-19 pandemic; and the availability of exploration personnel, drill contractors, equipment,
lodging, etc. Southern Empire will adhere to COVID-19 directives regarding safe working practices
putting worker and community health and safety first and will proceed with exploration and
development work programs only if potential COVID-19 risks can be effectively managed.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is
defined in the policies of the Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy
of this release.
SOURCE
Southern Empire Resources Corp.
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For further information:
on Southern Empire please visit: www.smp.gold and SEDAR or contact:
Lubica Keighery, (778) 889-5476, [email protected]
CO: Southern Empire Resources Corp.
CNW 15:55e 16-NOV-22