>why will it take another two plus years to get to production? Is the plant really that huge or are there more hoops to jump through after the mine plan is filed?
Enviro permitting is the longest step according to the timeline that AMY has put up in the past. Building a facility can only proceed when that is complete or nearly complete.
Which is why it bodes well that Kemetco has said AMY would be able to produce with very little water consumed, electricity consumed, and with no need for a wet tailings pond. B/c of the location, there should be no problem of a NIMBY situation, either (as unfortunately happened with that Rosemont mine just outside of Tucson).
Also, we're now in a Congressional and fed/state govt climate of wanting to fast track critical mineral production. Just look at how the political leaders in Alaska are explicitly trying to race Ucore's Bokan Mtn REE project through the permitting process. I'm hoping the same will apply to AMY and it's why i've written letters to Congress and to the DoE. Manganese is just as "critical" a mineral as any of the REEs according to the DoD and according to that landmark National Academy of Sciences publication, "Minerals, Critical Minerals and the US Economy".....
>Can they run a small amount of production through the pilot plant?
My understanding is that they can't do this until a certain level of permitting is in place, but i'm no expert on these things.....
It would certainly be great to get some initial cash flow going this way....
