Unigold Inc. has secured formal backing from local authorities and residents in the Restauracion municipality of the Dominican Republic for an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment at the Neita Project.

The Restauracion Municipal Development Council, along with the town council and mayor, submitted letters to the country's president requesting authorization to start the assessment. Local community members also delivered a petition bearing 725 signatures in support of the study.

The Neita Project covers the 100% owned Neita Sur concession—which hosts the Candelones gold deposits and a measured and indicated resource of approximately 2.29 million ounces of gold—alongside the Neita Norte concession awarded to Unigold in 2023. In early 2024, the company entered into an earn-in agreement enabling Barrick Gold to acquire up to a 60% interest in Neita Norte by funding $12 million in expenditures and delivering a pre-feasibility study over eight years.

Unigold applied for an Exploitation Concession in 2024 and is awaiting a response from the president. Having previously completed a feasibility study for the oxide portion of the Candelones deposit, the company plans to kick off further feasibility work targeting the larger sulphide deposit alongside the environmental assessment in the final quarter of this year.

“We are encouraged by the clear, local support for initiating a comprehensive Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. We expect to commence further feasibility work on the large sulphide deposit, and to begin the ESIA process, in the fourth quarter of this year. We believe that advancing the ESIA process in full collaboration with community leaders, residents and regulatory authorities is the best way to achieve both responsible development and transparent engagement. We expect that we will be able to incorporate design features to alleviate community concerns as they are identified.”

— Joe Hamilton, CEO

The company intends to complete a fully compliant environmental and social assessment that meets national regulations and adheres to international best practices as it awaits a decision on its exploitation concession application.

Read the full announcement: Unigold Announces Strong Community Support for Initiation of Neita Project Environmental and Social Impact Assessment