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Infinity starts process for San José mining licence and environmental permitting
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Infinity has kicked off the processes required to secure the mining licence and environmental approvals for its San José lithium project in Spain.
Its wholly-owned subsidiary Extremadura New Energies (ENE) has submitted the “Initial Document” to the Dirección General de Industria, Energía y Minas (General Directorate of Industry, Energy and Mines) and Dirección General de Sostenibilidad (General Directorate of Sustainability) in Extremadura.
This collaboration with the Regional Government of Extremadura and Cáceres Local Government represents the first step in the lodgement of permit applications in relation to an underground-only mining proposal as outlined by the positive Scoping Study released in October last year.
Infinity Lithium (ASX:INF) noted that the Initial Document will provide detail on extraction, processing and also optionality on the possible locations of the fully integrated industrial lithium conversion facility.
The Initial Document is a request for the environmental body to formulate the Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Document (ESIA) in advance of the commencement of the ordinary EIA procedure.
It also serves to align the project to local and regional stakeholders through a consultative process.
The ESIA is expected to be submitted to ENE within a three-month period from the submission of the Initial Document.
“This scope document for the environmental impact study will incorporate the evaluations and indications from the technical assessment of the project and respond to everything that both the residents of Cáceres and the administrations have told us in terms of environmental sustainability,” ENE chief executive officer Ramón Jiménez said.
Infinity will carry out a collaborative process to identify the preferred location for the industrial lithium conversion facility.
Exploitation Concession
The company has previously confirmed its administrative and legal rights under Spanish law to lodge an Exploitation Concession through an Indirect or a Direct application route.
Likewise, the Regional Government of Extremadura and the Regional Ministry of Ecological Transition and Sustainability have acknowledged that there are a number of legal avenues to exploit the San José lithium resource under Spanish mining law.
The Regional Government has also ratified the Lithium Decree-Law 5/2022 in the Regional Assembly and quashed allegations against the decree, which mandates the requirement for all lithium minerals extracted to be processed in the region.
It enables the accelerated administrative processing of projects, access to public funding, and categorisation of PREMIA (projects of regional interest) to facilitate expropriations that may be required.
Extremadura President Guillermo Fernández Vara noted then that his only priority was to secure a decent life for the people of the region and would use the resources of the region to do so if the laws were complied with.
Sole control
Separately, Infinity has secured administrative control of the San José project after securing sole ownership of the joint venture by finalising payment obligations to its joint venture partner Valoriza Mineria.
It also has the right to move to full project ownership by exercising an upfront call option of between €2m and €4m depending on timing of acquisition.
This article was developed in collaboration with Infinity Lithium, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
