GWMO Great Western Mining Corporation Plc

GREAT WESTERN MINING CORPORATION PLC

("Great Western", "GWM" or the "Company")

ENVIRONMENTAL PERMIT EFFECTIVE FROM TODAY

Great Western Mining Corporation PLC (AIM - GWMO, Euronext Growth - 8GW), which is exploring and developing gold, silver and copper targets in the Walker Lane belt of Nevada, USA, announces that an environmental permit recently granted to the Company's 50% owned affiliate, Western Milling LLC, becomes effective today, 31^st. July 2024.

This permit has been granted by NDEP (The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection) and is the final step in allowing gravity operations to commence at Western Milling's site in Sodaville, Nevada.

NDEP's primary objective in granting this permit is to ensure no contamination of the water table and Western Milling has taken great care to plan and construct the mill site so that it meets and exceeds the minimum requirements for this phase 1 gravity separation plant.  The mill site, as constructed, has also been engineered to take account of a potentially more hazardous second phase which will involve chemical leaching, for which an application will shortly be filed in line with previously announced plans.

No testing of any kind has been allowed until the permit is in place.  The site has been left open for inspection pending the permit becoming effective.  During a final inspection of the site by NDEP, no significant issues were identified and all the required parameters were found to have been met.  Hook up of the plant for initial operations can now commence and the system tested prior to first production.

Great Western and its partner will each be contributing feedstock to the mill and Great Western is now setting up bulk transportation arrangements.

Great Western Chairman Brian Hall commented: "Long delays in reaching this point have been mainly outside our control but we are very excited to have a green light to go ahead and operate the plant.  There is still a lot to do and we and will report on the next stages."   

For further information:

Notes to Editors

The Company has a large tract of acreage in Mineral County, Nevada. The acreage partly consists of rugged, mountainous terrain, large parts of which remain under-explored. Mineral potential is hosted by the regional Walker Lane Structural Belt, the largest structural and metallogenic belt in Nevada, yet one of the least explored in recent times, with gold, silver and copper currently produced in Mineral County.  Great Western has seven distinct concession areas which offer the potential for exploiting (1) short term gold and silver deposits and (2) long-term, world-class copper deposits. 

The Company's properties are made of seven groups of claims, all in Mineral County, Nevada and are 100% owned and operated. Great Western's small exploration team is supported by consultants and locally based contractors. 

The state of Nevada was rated the world's most mining friendly jurisdiction by the Fraser Institute of Canada in 2023.  While tightly regulated and environmentally conscious, Nevada welcomes the mining industry.  Great Western takes care to ensure that its claims are maintained in good standing and all regulations observed. 

There are numerous gold and silver prospects on the Company's acreage, including extensive historic mine workings which offer the opportunity for secondary recovery. As well as mineral exploration and appraisal, the Company is a 50% participant in the Western Milling LLC joint venture which has now completed construction of a mill to process pre-mined material for secondary recovery of gold and silver. 

Through extensive drilling over a five-year period, GWM has established a Mineral Resource on its M2 target area in the Black Mountains group of claims.  4.3 million tonnes at 0.45% copper are reported, being 19,000 tonnes of contained copper metal. This resource has been independently reported in accordance with JORC guidelines. 

GWM has also established an Inferred Resource Estimate of 31,000 tonnes grading 1.6 g/t gold and 3.0 g/t silver in tailings associated with the OMCO Mine at the Olympic Gold Project.   Waste material also  includes exploration targets which have been independently reported as follows:

·    3,400 - 6,400 tonnes grading between 0.5 and 1.2 g/t Au and 1.2 and 2.1 g/t Ag in the substrate beneath the tailings volume at the Olympic Mine.

·    9,000 - 12,000 tonnes grading between 0.9 and 2.4 g/t Au and 2.0 and 5.1 g/t Ag in a coarse stockpile at Olympic Mine.

·    4,200 - 7,700 tonnes grading between 40 and 140 g/t Ag and 0.3 and 0.3 g/t Au in spoil heaps at Mineral Jackpot.