PolyMet Mining Corp. - Exhibit 99.1 - Filed by newsfilecorp.com
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100 King Street West, Suite 5700, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, M5X 1C7 |
| Tel: +1 (416) 915-4149 |
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| 444 Cedar Street, Suite 2060, St. Paul, MN
55101 |
| Tel: +1 (651) 389-4100 |
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| www.polymetmining.com |
TSX: POM, NYSE MKT: PLM
POLYMET SUBMITS
WATER-RELATED PERMIT
APPLICATIONS TO THE STATE OF
MINNESOTA
Repays Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board Loan
St. Paul, Minn., July 11, 2016 – PolyMet Mining Corp. TSX: POM;
NYSE MKT: PLM announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Poly Met Mining,
Inc. (together “PolyMet” or the “Company”) has submitted applications for
water-related permits required to construct and operate its NorthMet
copper-nickel-precious metals project located in northeastern Minnesota. PolyMet
also reported it has repaid the $5.1 million loan including accrued interest
from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, a development agency
created by the State of Minnesota.
“Formal submission of water-related permit applications is
another important milestone for PolyMet and the NorthMet Project,” said PolyMet
President and CEO Jon Cherry. “We recognize that water is one of Minnesota’s
most valuable resources and we have taken extra time and effort to ensure that
our permit applications detail the ways in which we will protect this resource
and meet the various regulatory standards required for Minnesota’s first
copper-nickel mine.” He added, “we expect to submit air-related and Permit to
Mine applications in the coming weeks.”
The permit applications submitted today include:
| • |
Water quality permit – the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System/State Disposal System (NPDES/SDS) permit
establishes the terms and conditions that must be met, including
monitoring, when a facility discharges to surface or groundwater of the
state. |
| • |
Water use permit – the water appropriation permit
is needed for withdrawing or using water from a surface or groundwater
source for the project. |
| • |
Dam safety permits – the permits establish the
design, construction, and operating parameters to ensure long-term safe
and stable operations of facilities with water impoundments, such as the
tailings basin. |
Following the process laid out in the April 19, 2016
pre-application public meeting in Aurora, Minnesota, permit applications will be
posted on www.mn.gov/polymet. The website also
provides information about the permitting process for the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
“We have been deliberate in preparing our formal permit
applications to ensure they are complete and align with the Final Environmental
Impact Statement so that the agencies can process their reviews as efficiently
and rigorously as possible,” Cherry said.
IRRRB loan repaid
When the land exchange was
incorporated into the federal and state Environmental Impact Statement process,
PolyMet acquired high-quality forest lands that will be exchanged for surface
land above and around the NorthMet mineral rights. Those land purchases were
financed, in part, with a loan from the IRRRB. PolyMet has
repaid the original principal together with accrued interest totaling $5.1
million. Therefore the lands to be exchanged are now unencumbered, which will
facilitate the exchange once the U.S. Forest Service issues its Final Record of
Decision – the draft ROD was issued in November 2015 indicating the exchange was
in the public interest.
“Repaying the IRRRB loan in full is an example of PolyMet’s
commitment to the local community, the state, the environment, and our
investors,” Cherry said. “We are sincerely grateful for the continued
encouragement and support we get from Iron Rangers, the Range delegation, and
business and labor communities statewide.”
* * * * *
About PolyMet
PolyMet Mining Corp.
(www.polymetmining.com) is a publicly-traded mine development company that owns
100 percent of Poly Met Mining, Inc., a Minnesota corporation that controls 100
percent of the NorthMet copper-nickel-precious metals ore body through a
long-term lease and owns 100 percent of the Erie Plant, a large processing
facility located approximately six miles from the ore body in the established
mining district of the Mesabi Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota. Poly Met
Mining, Inc. has completed its Definitive Feasibility Study. The NorthMet Final
EIS was published in November 2015, preparing the way for decisions on permit
applications. NorthMet is expected to require approximately two million hours of
construction labor, creating approximately 360 long-term jobs, a level of
activity that will have a significant multiplier effect in the local economy.
For further information, please contact:
Media
Bruce Richardson
Corporate Communications
Tel: +1 (651) 389-4111
brichardson@polymetmining.com
Investor Relations
Jenny Knudson
Investor
Relations
Tel: +1 (651) 389-4110
jknudson@polymetmining.com
PolyMet Disclosures
This news release contains
certain forward-looking statements concerning anticipated developments in
PolyMet’s operations in the future. Forward-looking statements are frequently,
but not always, identified by words such as “expects,” “anticipates,”
“believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “potential,” “possible,” “projects,”
“plans,” and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or
results “will,” “may,” “could,” or “should” occur or be achieved or their
negatives or other comparable words. These forward-looking statements may
include statements regarding the ability to receive environmental and operating
permits, job creation, or other statements that are not a statement of fact.
Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore
involve inherent known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results may
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements due to risks
facing PolyMet or due to actual facts differing from the assumptions underlying
its predictions.
PolyMet’s forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and PolyMet does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or
management’s beliefs, expectations and opinions should change.
Specific reference is made to PolyMet’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2016 and in our other filings with Canadian securities authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,
including our Report on Form 6-K providing information with respect to our operations for the three months ended April 30, 2016, for a discussion of some of the risk factors and other considerations underlying forward-looking statements.
The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.