TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed Centerra Gold has received its 2016 maximum allowable emissions (MAE) permit from the Kyrgyz Republic State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry (SAEPF) for the Kumtor mine, in Kyrgyzstan.
Centerra stated that the new MAE permit was valid until December 31, and was the first new MAE permit issued by SAEPF to Kumtor since 2014. Before this, the operation relied on periodic extensions of its 2014 MAE permit from SAEPF for continuous operations.
The Kumtor operation had also received approval from SAEPF for its 2016 maximum allowable discharge (MAD) permit, which allowed for discharge of treated effluent.
The SAEPF was the same agency pursuing legal action against Centerra, alleging that subsidiary Kumtor Operating Company owed additional environmental pollution fees, with claimed damages of about $220-million.
Centerra advised that, with the MAE and MAD permits in hand, the environmental approval of Kumtor’s 2016 mine plan was expected to be come through before June 30. The company had previously cautioned that, should it not receive approval of the mine plan, Kumtor would have to shut down on July 1.