Dewatering of the Underground Mines to be used for Nord Tailing Reprocessing
Nord details Gowganda permitting and water-management planning as it works toward a 1,000 tpd tailings reprocessing startup and regional silver recovery base.
Rhea-AI Summary
Nord Precious Metals Mining (NPMMF) outlined permitting and engineering progress for its planned 1,000 tonnes-per-day tailings reprocessing operation at Gowganda as of September 22, 2026. Process water for the plant is planned to be drawn from underground mines, requiring a Permit to Take Water (PTTW) and Environmental Compliance Approvals (ECAs) in addition to a Mineral Recovery Permit. An environmental consultant and process consultant are advancing groundwater and surface-water reviews, tailings stability screening, and detailed mass and water balances for a gravity-flotation circuit. Nord is targeting September 30, 2026 for a permitting completeness matrix and October 2026 for submission of the Mineral Recovery Permit application, aiming to establish Gowganda as an operating base for a wider regional silver-recovery business.
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Tailings reprocessing water requirement has been calculated for 1000 tonnes per day plant
Cobalt, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 22, 2026) - Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. (TSXV: NTH) (OTCQB: NPMMF) (FSE: QN3) ("Nord" or the "Company") reports progress on its Gowganda recovery-permit program following a site visit by the Ministry of Mines (MEM) on September 15, 2026. Process water requirement for reprocessing the tailings is to be drawn from the underground mines.
Underground mine dewatering requires Nord to obtain a Permit to Take Water ("PTTW") and applicable Environmental Compliance Approval ("ECAs") for the effluent treatment of tailing process water alongside the Mineral Recovery Permit application. Nord and its engineering team are providing the project and operating details needed to define that work and coordinate it with the recovery-permit program.
"We are driving Gowganda toward silver production and building for the opportunity beyond this first recovery project," said Frank J. Basa, P.Eng., Chief Executive Officer of Nord. "We now have the consolidated ground, an updated tailings silver inventory and engineering work advancing together. Our job is to turn that foundation into an operating recovery business. We are pressing to bring extraction and processing into a coordinated permitting plan, with the water and environmental work moving alongside it. Gowganda is where we intend to establish our operating base, recover value from historical tailings and then progress into hard rock mining in the Gowganda camp."
Building a Regional Silver Recovery Business
Nord is pursuing a regional processing business anchored by its own silver inventory and TTL's existing infrastructure. Its earlier November 2024 Castle tailings program set out the opportunity to recover metals while improving legacy mine sites across the Cobalt Camp. The current permit applications focus on the Gowganda tailings project.
Ontario's Recovery of Minerals framework came into force on July 1, 2025. Nord's September 2025 Ministry discussions addressed the inclusion of toll processing of adjacent properties in a recovery-permit application. That work advanced the Company's ambition to compete for processing business beyond its own holdings.
Nord strengthened that foundation by acquiring four adjoining Gowganda mining leases on March 31, 2026. Consolidating the leases with the Castle property expanded the opportunity to build an initial recovery operation around Company-controlled material, with the longer-term objective of handling successive sources of suitable feed.
Since acquiring the leases, the Company has advanced the process design, water requirements and residual-tailings handling. GeoVector's May appointment led to the September resource update, while July discussions with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks ("MECP") addressed environmental submissions. Nord is bringing these elements together to establish Gowganda as an operating base from which to grow a wider silver-recovery business.
Defining the initial recovery program
An environmental consultant is proceeding under its existing amended agreement, covering desktop reviews of groundwater, hydrogeology and surface-water information, tailings-stability screening, processing permit requirements and completeness matrix, and the technical package for Nord's proposed initial-stage application. A regulatory-requirements tracker has been assembled and is being populated to organize supporting information and identify remaining work.
Following September discussions with MEM, including the September 15 site visit, Nord is preparing a more detailed operating concept and site layout so the Ministry can advise which proposed activities could be addressed in the recovery-permit application. Nord's objective is to connect the initial work with the extraction, material movement and physical separation needed for an operating recovery project.
The site discussions also considered whether historical sampling information could reduce additional sampling needed before permitting, subject to the Ministry's review of the data and proposed activities. Nord is organizing the existing technical record to support that review and identify the further work required.
Nord's planning targets are September 30, 2026 for the completeness matrix and October for submission of the Mineral Recovery Permit application, with an updated consultant schedule requested. Nord plans to share the matrix and project overview with MEM in early October and arrange a working discussion as application drafting continues. Timing remains subject to the supporting work and required inputs. PTTW and ECA submissions may follow a different schedule.
Full field studies, water-management planning and separate PTTW and ECA applications remain outside the environmental consultant agreement. Nord will approve, attest to and submit its application. Commercial recovery requires the applicable approvals. Nord is also assembling the Indigenous-engagement information needed to support the application and continuing its engagement planning.
Water management and concurrent permitting
Process consultant has delivered revised key design parameters, mass and water balances and detailed process-stream tables for review. The package sets out proposed material flows through the gravity-flotation recovery circuit and distinguishes startup water supply, process-water recycling and ongoing make-up requirements, providing further engineering inputs for Nord's coordinated recovery-permit, PTTW and ECA work.
The preliminary engineering considers nominal and design throughput cases of 1,000 tonnes of tailings per day, respectively, based on 24-hour schedule during a seasonal operation. The proposed route uses screening, classification and gravity- flotation concentration. These planning assumptions remain subject to testwork and design refinement.
The environmental consultant's groundwater and surface-water assessments are intended to inform both the recovery-permit package and the scope of the separate PTTW and ECA applications, connecting the current work directly to the requirements for an operating recovery project.
The PTTW would address water taking where required; applicable ECA would address effluent water treatment . These permissions are separate from the Mineral Recovery Permit. As disclosed in Nord's August 5, 2026 update, MECP has identified a single point of contact to coordinate its specialists and recommended engagement with MEM to align information needs.
An operating base for a regional processing business
Nord's objective is to establish a first recovery operation that can support successive campaigns involving additional suitable Company-owned or third-party material. The initial engineering and permitting work is intended to identify which equipment, water systems and operating capabilities could serve that broader role, alongside TTL's existing silver-processing infrastructure. Additional feed would require characterization, demonstrated process suitability, commercial arrangements where applicable and the necessary approvals. This approach connects recovery and rehabilitation of legacy mine sites with the opportunity to build domestic processing capacity.
Qualified Person
Frank J. Basa, P.Eng. (PEO), Chief Executive Officer and a director of Nord, is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and is not independent of the Company.
About Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc.
Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. (TSXV: NTH) is advancing a silver-recovery and exploration strategy in Ontario's historic Cobalt-Gowganda mining camp. Its immediate priority is to put the technical, engineering, financing and permitting components in place for silver recovery at Gowganda, with the objective of generating cash flow to support further exploration.
Nord's recovery strategy is anchored by its wholly owned TTL Laboratories in Cobalt, the only permitted high-grade milling facility in Ontario's historic Cobalt Camp. TTL combines assay and bulk-sampling services with high-grade silver processing infrastructure and silver doré pouring capability. Its crushing, screening and gravity equipment and bullion furnace give Nord a base for advancing its own projects and developing a broader processing business serving other operators across the historic Cobalt Camp. The Company intends to expand that regional role through technical work, commercial arrangements and the environmental approvals applicable to new material streams.
The Company's 63 sq. km combined Castle-Gowganda property, including 225 hectares of leases, hosts the past-producing Siscoe-O'Brien, Castle and Millerett silver mines and the Castle East discovery. Nord continues to evaluate Castle East drilling results and the exploration-stage open-pit concept described in its August 31, 2026 update. It is also pursuing metal-recovery opportunities involving the Re-2Ox hydrometallurgical process.
More information is available at www.nordpreciousmetals.com.
For further information please contact
Frank J. Basa, P.Eng. | Chief Executive Officer | 416-625-2342
Wayne Cheveldayoff | Corporate Communications | 416-710-2410 | waynecheveldayoff@gmail.com
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements involving known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Such statements are generally identified by words including "expects," "plans," "intends," "estimates," "potential," "may," "could" and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the scope and timing of the Okane work and additional service offer; the proposed inclusion of recovery and processing activities in the initial application; use of historical information and further studies; the September 30 completeness matrix, early-October Ministry engagement and October 15 submission target; coordination of PTTW and ECA work; preliminary throughput and seasonal operating assumptions; development of the processing and water-management design; potential recovery and rehabilitation at Gowganda; regulatory approvals; successive recovery campaigns and Company-owned or third-party feed; TTL's regional processing business; Castle East exploration and conceptual open-pit potential; Re-2Ox opportunities; and the intended use of future tailings cash flow for exploration.
These statements assume the availability of adequate financing, access to the site and required data, satisfactory technical and economic results, consultant capacity, and receipt of necessary regulatory and other approvals. Actual outcomes may differ because of resource and density uncertainty, metallurgical performance, environmental and water-management requirements, consultation outcomes, permitting delays or conditions, capital and operating costs, commodity prices, financing availability and other project risks. The resource estimate and preliminary work do not establish economic viability or a decision to proceed with production.
Forward-looking information reflects the Company's expectations as of the date of this release. Readers should not place undue reliance on it. The Company does not undertake to update such information except as required by applicable law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/315417
FAQ
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What regulatory approvals does Nord need for the Gowganda tailings reprocessing project?
The project requires a Mineral Recovery Permit for tailings reprocessing, a Permit to Take Water (PTTW) where water taking is required, and applicable Environmental Compliance Approvals (ECAs) for effluent water treatment. These permissions are separate, and commercial recovery will require the applicable approvals.
What timelines has Nord set for its initial permitting work at Gowganda?
Nord’s planning targets are September 30, 2026 to complete the permitting completeness matrix and October 2026 to submit the Mineral Recovery Permit application. The company plans to share the matrix and project overview with the Ministry of Mines in early October and hold a working discussion as drafting continues, with timing remaining subject to supporting work and required inputs.
How is water management being integrated into the Gowganda project design?
The process consultant has delivered revised key design parameters, mass and water balances, and process-stream tables that define material flows through a gravity-flotation circuit and distinguish startup water supply, process-water recycling, and ongoing make-up requirements. The environmental consultant’s groundwater and surface-water assessments are intended to inform both the recovery-permit package and the scope of the separate PTTW and ECA applications.
What scale and operating schedule is Nord considering for the initial Gowganda plant?
Preliminary engineering considers nominal and design throughput cases of 1,000 tonnes of tailings per day based on a 24-hour schedule during a seasonal operation. The proposed flowsheet uses screening, classification and gravity-flotation concentration, with planning assumptions remaining subject to testwork and design refinement.
How does Nord plan to use Gowganda as a base for regional silver recovery?
Nord aims to establish a first recovery operation at Gowganda that can support successive campaigns using additional suitable company-owned or third-party material. The initial engineering and permitting work is intended to identify equipment, water systems and operating capabilities that could support that broader role, working alongside TTL Laboratories’ existing silver-processing infrastructure, subject to characterization of additional feed, process suitability, commercial arrangements where applicable and necessary approvals.