Stornoway (SWY.TO) Receives Transfer of the Certificate of Authorization for The Renard Mine Road
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Dec. 17, 2012) -Stornoway Diamond Corporation (TSX:SWY) is pleased to announce that it has received from the Québec Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement, de la Faune et des Parcs ("MDDEFP") the transfer of the Certificate of Authorization for the construction of the Renard Mine Road, the 97 km long mining grade road that Stornoway will construct to complete all season road access to the Renard Diamond Project. The transfer of this Certificate of Authorization has been made consistent with the schedule contained within the Framework Agreement entered into on November 15th 2012 between Stornoway, the MDDEFP, the Québec Ministère des Transports ("MTQ"), the Ministère des Ressources Naturelles and the Ministère des Finances et de l'Économie.
Construction of the road that will provide all-season vehicle access to the Renard Project began in February 2012 as the "Route 167 Extension". Under the terms of the Framework Agreement, and a subsequent Financing Agreement entered into on November 30th, 2012, Québec will complete the first 143km of road as a 70km/hr two-lane gravel highway as previously planned and Stornoway will undertake the construction of a 50km/hr single lane mining road over the remaining 97km. Québec will provide Stornoway with credit facilities of up to C$85 million to complete this work. To facilitate the road's construction schedule, the MTQ will complete a winter road by March 2013 to allow temporary access to Renard and the mobilization of fuel, road construction equipment and camps. It is expected that permanent road access to Renard will be available by Q4 2013 to allow mine construction to commence.
The Renard Mine Road Certificate of Authorization represents the principal regulatory approval required for Stornoway to commence road construction. Given that the single lane road that will be built will have a smaller environmental footprint than was previously contemplated for the Route 167 Extension, Stornoway will seek minor changes to the terms of the authorization.
