Josemaria continues to progress toward development of the Josemaria Project as detailed in the Feasibility Study. A bridging phase of engineering activities is ongoing, in advance of basic engineering which is expected to commence in 2021. The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ("ESIA") was completed and presented to the Governor of San Juan Province, Argentina, on February 23, 2021. The Company expects to formally submit the report to the environmental authorities during the week commencing March 1, 2021. We continue active engagement with the Argentina federal and San Juan provincial authorities to advance the Josemaria Project, including discussions aimed at finalizing and securing commercial and fiscal terms applicable to the Josemaria Project.
On October 19, 2020, the Company announced the results of the Feasibility Study prepared by a team of engineering and consulting service providers led by Fluor Canada Ltd. with key sections prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc., and Knight Piésold Ltd. with input from a variety of independent consultants and qualified persons, and in accordance with the disclosure standards of National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") for its 100% owned copper-gold-silver Josemaria Project located in San Juan, Argentina.
The Feasibility Study demonstrates a robust, rapid pay-back, low risk project, with an open pit operation feeding a conventional process plant at 152,000 tonnes per day over a 19-year mine life, yielding average annual metal production of 136,000 tonnes of copper ("Cu"), 231,000 ounces of gold ("Au") and 1,164,000 ounces of silver ("Ag").
The Technical Report summarizing the results of the Feasibility Study, titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Feasibility Study for the Josemaria Copper-Gold Project, San Juan Province, Argentina" and dated effective September 28, 2020, was prepared under NI 43-101 Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects and filed on November 5, 2020. The Technical Report is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).
