Goldquest pleased with minister support for gold mining
2020-04-21 07:19 ET - News Release
Mr. Dave Massola reports
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC'S MINISTER OF ENERGY AND MINES STATES THAT GOLD MINING SHOULD BE THE OXYGEN OF THE ECONOMY
The Dominican Republic's Minister of Energy and Mines, Minister Isa Conde, emphasized the importance of gold mining for the Dominican economy in an interview on April 16, 2020, with a major Dominican newspaper, Diario Libre, in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Mr. Conde argued that gold-producing countries (like Dominican Republic) have an important advantage. He also stated that gold mining is an ally which will contribute to the rebuilding of the economy after the passage of the pandemic.
Before the COVID-19 crisis, gold mining represented a large amount of the national exports, a contribution likely to rise in importance as virtually all other economic sectors are in decline. In response to the crisis, the Dominican Republic government has moved swiftly to protect its population, cancelling all European and most North American flights, and closing most hotels, effectively halting tourism in the country, a major plank of the nation's economy as well as halting other economic sectors.
"Goldquest has been in the DR since 2002 and hopes to assist the DR in its economic efforts to reignite the nation's economy," commented David Massola, chief executive officer of Goldquest Mining. "If developed, we expect that our flagship project at Romero would produce gold with copper and silver byproducts, expected to be 100 per cent exported, and create up to 1,000 direct jobs in the construction phase in the DR's interior."
The independently produced prefeasibility study for the Romero project (PFS) dated Nov. 10, 2016 (see release of Sept. 27, 2016), provides that at a gold price of $1,300 and copper price $2.50 the project returns a net present value (NPV 5 per cent) of $203-million (U.S.) after tax and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 28 per cent. The company is well financed with $17.1-million at the end of Q3 2019.
Goldquest has demonstrated to Mr. Conde and other government officials the positive economic impact the Romero project would bring to both the local community and federal government. Using this study, the company estimates tax payments to the Dominican Republic in excess of $250-million (U.S.).
Mr. Conde has approved the Romero project, and the company has been awaiting the approval of the President of the Republic to allow the company to move forward to environmental studies and full feasibility study, leading to the potential development of the Romero mine. The mine has been planned to global environmental standards. The project does not have an open pit and is fully underground. The mine's product is a gold-and-copper-rich concentrate which has been physically separated from the ore so deleterious chemicals like cyanide are not used. The project uses seasonal rainfall storage and will not extract water from, or discharge water into, the San Juan River, a plan developed by Golder Associates, the world's largest environmental consultancy. The company expects that following receipt of all required approvals, the company would make further exploration expenditures in the DR, including expenditures focused on the company's 2017 Cachimbo discovery.
David Massola, chief executive officer, concluded: "We are pleased that the Minister of Energy and Mines continues to understand the economic impact of gold mining projects. We believe that our Romero project fits perfectly into the goals and objectives of Minister Isa Conde's statement. With gold prices at their current level, the company expects that the benefit to the Dominican economy identified in the Romero PFS would be significantly higher, in addition to potential exploration potential along the whole 50-kilometre Tireo belt. Goldquest is well positioned to reactivate its exploration activities with the recent purchase, with fellow explorer Precipitate Gold, of five Dominican domiciled drill rigs (see the company's press release dated Jan. 17, 2020)."
About Goldquest Mining Corp.
Goldquest is a Canadian-based mineral exploration and development company with projects in the Dominican Republic. The company is well financed to carry out exploration programs and to advance the development of its Romero gold/copper discovery, also located in the Tireo formation of the Dominican Republic.
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