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eURoPe

Breathing new fire into Salave

lack Dragon Gold Ltd is resisting the
Btemptation to rush a BFS on its flag-
ship Salave gold project in northern Spain
until after it has received the last remain-
ing permit required for development.
Environmental approval could be grant-
ed before the end of the year after the
company submitted its formal response to
comments received on the Salave EIA to
the Government of Asturias in May.
New Black Dragon managing director
Gabriel Chiappini said Spanish authorities
will take at least four months to review the
public feedback.
“It may take longer than four months for
the reply, which would take us to the end of
the year, after which we move into a BFS,”
Chiappini told Paydirt.
“We also want to do some additional
exploration, but we don’t want to invest
in a drilling programme unless we’ve got
the EIA. We want to be welcomed into the
community and we also want to look after
our shareholder funds by ensuring we’re
not going to expand the resource unless
we’ve got the EIA.”
Development of Salave has been a long Salave is one of the largest undeveloped
time coming since Black Dragon transi- gold projects in Europe with a global
tioned from the TSX to the ASX in 2018, board and management restructure which resource of 11.33mt @ 4.27 g/t gold for
with the approvals process somewhat also saw Adriatic Metals plc managing di- 1.56 moz
drawn out over the past two years by the rector Paul Cronin assume the chairman’s
COVID-19 pandemic. role and Amy Fink appointed chief finan-
Salave is one of the largest undevel- cial officer.
oped gold projects in Europe with a global Chiappini said the opportunity to de- “Although you do hear some bad stories
resource of 11.33mt @ 4.27 g/t gold for velop a “progressive and sustainable” gold about doing exploration and mining work
1.56 moz, including 1.03mt @ 5.59 g/t for mine in Spain was one he had grabbed in Spain, there are so many more good
190,000oz of measured and 7.18mt @ with both hands. stories which support the notion that Spain
4.43 g/t gold for 1.02 moz of indicated re- “Black Dragon’s primary listing is on the is a very mining-friendly destination,” he
sources. ASX, but it hasn’t had a lot of promotion said.
Black Dragon has already been issued in the Australian markets, so that’s some- “Where we are in northern Spain, we’re
a mining licence for Salave and Chiappini thing I want to change,” he said. very blessed to be close to such good min-
believes it is only a matter of time before “The working capital for the last three ing infrastructure, including a motorway
the company is re-rated by the market. years has come from Australian share- which runs right next to our project, and
“What the market probably doesn’t have holders and we now need to put back in we’re only 90km away from a container
a great appreciation of is the fact there’s what we’ve taken out and provide news port where we plan to export our concen-
only one permit left to obtain, which is the flow. We’ve got a drilling permit that was trate from.
environmental permit, and we think once issued in May and a world-class deposit “There’s a strong mining tradition in the
we have that then any fears of this Spanish which we know we can expand with some region and also some very good skills in
permitting spectre disappear,” Chiappini fairly simple exploration. country which means we can recruit local-
said. “Salave is too good a project not to con- ly from the School of Mines where one of
“Spain is just like any other country tinue to pursue. We will just continue doing our directors, Alberto Lavandiera, studied
where you’ve got to go through the proper our work, both quietly and professionally, mining before going on to run the original
process. It’s no different to Australia or to ensure we meet the legal requirements Rio Tinto copper mine.”
Canada, for example. It’s been a three- and stay close to the decision-makers.” Black Dragon has also announced it is
year process from terms of reference to Chiappini said the recent arrival of Aus- looking to grow and diversify geographi-
where we are today, but it’s within touching tralian copper miner Sandfire Resources cally, with a greenfields precious metals
distance now.” Ltd into Spain via the $1 billion acquisition project in Western Australia believed to be
Having spent several years working as a of the MATSA complex would help dispel under consideration.
consultant to the group, Chiappini officially any lingering concerns investors may still – Michael Washbourne
joined Black Dragon in March as part of a have about the country.

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT JULY 2022 Page 121