Euro Sun Mining Inc. secured an exploitation permit and a mining license from the Romanian government for the Rovina Valley gold-copper project.
The company became the first entity not owned by the state to have a ratified mining license in the country.
Euro Sun said Nov. 12 that it will now conduct an environmental and social impact assessment and continue a feasibility study to accelerate the project toward a construction decision.
The Canadian explorer will adopt a phased approach in targeting higher-grade zones of the project's three porphyry deposits, namely Colnic, Rovina and Ciresta, to better mitigate project risk.
A 2010 preliminary economic assessment on Rovina Valley outlined a net present value, discounted at 5%, of US$569 million with a 15.7% internal rate of return and a payback period of 4.9 years. Average annual gold production is pegged at 196,000 ounces, and annual copper output is estimated at 49.4 million pounds over a 19-year mine life.
Rovina Valley hosts measured and indicated resources of 7.2 million ounces of gold and 1.4 billion pounds of copper contained within 406 million tonnes grading 0.55 g/t of gold and 0.16% copper.
