Gold Resource Corp. secured all approvals necessary to construct, operate and pour doré at its Isabella Pearl gold property in Nevada.

The company said May 15 that it received the final permit, a positive record of decision on the environmental assessment for the proposed open pit, heap leach operation, as well as board approval to advance the project into production.

In addition, the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection approved the plan of operation, and Gold Resource has selected a third-party mining contractor for heap leach pad construction and contract mining.

Gold Resource aims to produce approximately 153,000 ounces of gold over an initial four-year mine life, with average cash costs pegged at US$650/oz.

Initial CapEx is estimated at US$30 million, with US$10 million already spent, and future CapEx is expected to be funded from cash and operational monthly cash flow.

Construction is expected to be completed in less than 12 months, with ground-breaking targeted as soon as possible.

The company recently posted its first estimate of reserves at Isabella Pearl, comprising 192,600 ounces of gold and 1.1 million ounces of silver.

Gold Resource will work on increasing reserves with future exploration drilling, after identifying two new targets known as Scarlet and Civit Cat North within the existing mine plan.