The plan includes a comprehensive access to an additional 4.6 square kilometers (km2) of an expansive gold system, bringing the total number of under the plan of operations to 11.9 km2. “This important milestone permits access to the largest undrilled target area in the Black Pine gold system, covering several square kilometers of high-conviction ground,” President and CEO Cal Everett, President and CEO of Liberty Gold. “It is nice have so much elbow room.”

It also includes a total of up to 50.7 additional acres of disturbance, bringing the total to 224.8 acres, additional 15.3 miles of new roads, for a total of 56.7 miles, additional 154 drill pads, subject to a staged annual reclamation plan, bringing the total to 596 sites. It also includes access to a water well that was used for the historic mine operation, which can now be used to support exploration efforts at Black Pine and access to areas between the Rangefront and M Zones to the east and the Discovery Focus Area, F and J zones to the west, linking the entire Black Pine Oxide Gold system together on a district scale.

“Throughout the many challenges presented by the year that was 2020, we worked with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to produce the environmental assessment and met all of the timelines and milestones necessary to expand the footprint of this project,” said Moira Smith, vice president of exploration and geoscience for Liberty Gold. “We appreciate their professionalism and thoroughness and look forward to working with them into the future as we advance the project toward the development stage.” The maiden mineral resource estimate is expected mid-Q2.

In February 2020, Liberty Gold submitted an application to the U.S. Forest Service Sawtooth National Forest-Minidoka Ranger District and U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Pocatello Field Office to amend the 2019 plan of operations, and worked diligently with these agencies, Stantec Consulting Services Inc. and Donahoe HydroGeo to complete wildlife, archaeological, hydrologic and other surveys to assist in producing a comprehensive Environmental Assessment. The plan of operations and draft environmental assessment were subject to rigorous inter-agency and public review. The BLM issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and approval of plan of operations for the portion of the permit on BLM land on December 23, 2020. The Forest Service issued a draft FONSI on December 21, 2020, and final approval of the amendment to plan of operations on February 17, 2021.