Exhibit
99.1
Prophecy Gibellini Vanadium Project: Independent Contractor
Appointed to Prepare Environmental Impact Statement
Vancouver, British Columbia, June 19, 2019 – Prophecy
Development Corp. (“Prophecy” or the “Company”)
(TSX:PCY, OTCQX:PRPCF, Frankfurt:1P2N) is pleased to announce the
appointment of a third party National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) contractor, SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA), to work
under the direction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) per the
provisions of a Memorandum of Understanding between SWCA
Environmental Consultants, BLM and Nevada Vanadium, LLC (previously
Gibellini Vanadium, LLC.), a wholly owned subsidiary of Prophecy
Development Corp., to prepare the Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the Gibellini Vanadium Project located in Eureka County,
Nevada, USA and assist the BLM in the maintenance of the
administrative record.
The
Gibellini EIS will be one of the first mining EIS’s done
under Secretarial Order 3355 (“SO 3355”) that mandates
the Final EIS cannot exceed 150 pages in length and must be
completed within one year of the publication date of the Notice of
Intent (NOI) for the EIS in the Federal Register. A project
schedule has been developed with the BLM that targets the first
quarter of 2020 for the NOI to be published and the EIS formally
started.
Appointment
of the EIS contractor allows the contractor to participate in the
review of the Enhanced Baseline Reports, the Mine Plan of
Operations and all relevant data and project information that will
serve as the foundation for the NEPA review. This early start by
the BLM EIS contractor will ensure a streamlined EIS process once
the formal NEPA process begins after the publication of the NOI in
the Federal Register.
Based on this guideline, an EIS Record of Decision would be
expected no later than Q1 2021. Upon receipt of a positive ROD and
issuance of Nevada State permits, Prophecy plans to start mine
construction in 2021 subject to project financing completion, and
begin vanadium production by Q4 2022.
“Appointment
of SWCA as the EIS contractor through competitive tender is a
significant milestone for Prophecy’s Gibellini vanadium
project,” notes Ron Espell, VP Environment and
Sustainability. “The NOI is on target to be published in
early Q1 2020, which will represent the starting point of a
well-defined 12-month process under SO 3355 that shareholders will
be able to mark and track on their calendars through to the EIS
Record of Decision.”
Mike Doolin, Prophecy’s CEO states: “This an
exciting time for Prophecy. We continue to work
through the permitting and detail engineering, executing our goals
and building confidence in our timeline. We believe Gibellini is
the only project poised to begin vanadium mine production in the US
by 2022, just 3 years from now.”
Visit www.prophecydev.com to
learn about Gibellini project timeline and
economics.
About
SWCA
SWCA
Environmental Consultants (SWCA) is a nationwide environmental
consulting firm that has served the BLM for more than 30 years as a
NEPA contractor. SWCA has been the third-party consultant for some
of the most complex recent mining EISs in the United States. SWCA
has assembled an outstanding team of environmental professionals to
complete the Gibellini EIS analysis in accordance with SO 3355, in
a timely and efficient manner. SWCA has strategically engaged
Itasca Denver, Inc. (IDI), and BGC Engineering, Inc. (BGC), as
teaming partners. These companies bring decades of environmental,
socioeconomic, and engineering experience with mining projects. All
team members were selected specifically because they have the
practical experience to deliver high quality work products on time
and within budget.
Team members were also selected to ensure that the
EIS process is completed within the 12-month SO 3355 mandated time
frame.
Further
information on SWCA can be found at https://www.swca.com/
About Prophecy
Prophecy
is developing the Gibellini project – the only large-scale,
open-pit, heap-leach vanadium project of its kind in North America.
Located in Nevada, Gibellini is currently undergoing EPCM and
permit development. Further information on Prophecy can be found at
www.prophecydev.com.
PROPHECY
DEVELOPMENT CORP.
ON
BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Michael
Doolin”
Chief
Executive Officer
For
more information about Prophecy, please contact Investor
Relations:
+1.604.569.3661
ext. 101
ir@prophecydev.com
www.prophecydev.com
Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto
Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy
of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Some
statements in this news release are about future events and
performance. Such statements are based on current estimates,
predictions, expectations, or beliefs. The subjects of the
statements include, but are not limited to, (i) the PEA
representing a viable development option for the project; (ii)
construction of a mine at the project and related actions; (iii)
estimates of the capital costs of constructing mine facilities,
bringing the mine into production, and sustaining the mine,
together with estimates of the length of financing payback periods;
(iv) the estimated amount of future production, of both [raw
material?] and metal recovered; and (vi) estimates of the life of
the mine and of the operating and total costs, cash flow, net
present value, and economic returns, including internal rate of
return from an operating mine constructed at the project. All
forward-looking statements are based on Prophecy’s or its
consultants’ current beliefs and assumptions, which are in
turn based on the information currently available to them. The most
significant assumptions are set forth above, but generally these
assumptions include: (i) the presence and continuity of vanadium
mineralization at the project at the estimated grades; (ii) the
geotechnical and metallurgical characteristics of the rock
conforming to the sampled results; (iii) infrastructure
construction costs and schedule; (iv) the availability of
personnel, machinery, and equipment at the estimated prices and
within the estimated delivery times; (v) currency exchange rates;
(vi) vanadium sale prices; (vii) appropriate discount rates applied
to the cash flows in the economic analysis; (viii) tax rates
applicable to the proposed mining operation; (ix) the availability
of acceptable financing on reasonable terms; (x) projected recovery
rates and use of a process method, which although well-known and
proven with other commodity types, such as copper, has not been
previously brought into production for a vanadium project; (xi)
reasonable contingency requirements; (xii) success in realizing
proposed operations; and (xiii) assumptions that the
project’s environmental approval and permitting is
forthcoming from county, state, and federal authorities. The
economic analysis is partly based on Inferred Mineral Resources
that are considered too speculative geologically to have the
economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to
be categorized as Mineral Reserves, and there is no certainty that
the PEA based on these Mineral Resources will be realized.
Currently there are no Mineral Reserves on the Gibellini property.
Although the Company’s management and its consultants
consider these assumptions to be reasonable, given the information
currently available to them, they could prove to be incorrect. Many
forward-looking statements are made assuming the correctness of
other forward-looking statements, such as statements of net present
value and internal rates of return. Those statements are based in
turn on most of the other forward-looking statements and
assumptions made herein. The cost information is also prepared
using current values, but the time for incurring the costs is in
the future and it is assumed costs will remain stable over the
relevant period.
These
factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements by Prophecy or
its consultants. Prophecy and its consultants believe that the
expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained
in this news release and the documents incorporated by reference
herein are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these
expectations will prove correct. In addition, although Prophecy and
its consultants have attempted to identify important factors that
could cause actual actions, events, or results to differ materially
from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be
other factors that cause actions, events, or results not to be as
anticipated, estimated, or intended. Prophecy and its consultants
undertake no obligation to publicly release any future revisions of
the forward-looking statements that reflect events or circumstances
that occur after the date of this news release or reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by
law.