en.Wedoany.com Reported - Integra Resources (TSXV: ITR | NYSE American: ITRG) has achieved two simultaneous advancements at the DeLamar gold-silver project, located in Owyhee County, southwestern Idaho, approximately 80 kilometers southwest of Boise. On June 2, 2026, the company appointed Ausenco Engineering USA South Inc. as the lead engineering partner for detailed engineering and execution readiness activities. Concurrently, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) public scoping period commenced following the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) publication of a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register on May 29, 2026.
Ausenco's responsibilities encompass engineering design advancement, procurement planning, constructability reviews, and project execution planning. Ausenco has engaged SLR Consulting for heap leach engineering, metallurgy, and mine planning. Together, the two companies cover all execution preparation work required between feasibility study completion and the construction decision for a large-scale open-pit oxide heap leach project. Ausenco was selected based on its track record with open-pit projects of a scale comparable to DeLamar. This engagement aims to strengthen Integra's position in advancing the project through the NEPA process toward a construction decision, with detailed engineering activities running concurrently with the BLM's environmental review, spanning the current scoping phase through the anticipated 2027 permitting outcome.
The BLM is the lead agency for the DeLamar environmental review, which is progressing under a 15-month FAST-41 permitting timeline. FAST-41 is a federal framework that accelerates major infrastructure project reviews through coordinated agency schedules and mandatory transparency requirements. DeLamar was added to the Federal Permitting Dashboard in January 2026, and the 30-day scoping period opened in May 2026. Following scoping, the process moves into the alternatives feasibility analysis phase, planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. Technical modeling for air quality, hydrogeology, and geochemistry runs from the second quarter of 2026 through the first quarter of 2027. EIS preparation, including processing scoping comments and defining issues and alternatives, spans the third quarter of 2026 to the first quarter of 2027. The draft EIS and Record of Decision (ROD) review period covers the second and third quarters of 2027. The final EIS and ROD are expected in the second half of 2027, with the final mine plan of operations for the preferred alternative targeted for completion in the fourth quarter of 2027, and the DeLamar construction target beginning in the third quarter of 2028.
Current activities at DeLamar are based on seven years of study progress. A 2019 preliminary economic assessment advanced to a 2022 pre-feasibility study, and then to a feasibility study, with an effective date of December 8, 2025, released on February 2, 2026. The feasibility study describes a 35,000-tonne-per-day open-pit oxide heap leach operation with a 10-year mine life. Total payable production is 1.1 million gold equivalent ounces, averaging 106,000 gold equivalent ounces annually over the mine life, rising to 119,000 gold equivalent ounces per year in the first five years. Average all-in sustaining costs over the mine life are $1,480 per gold equivalent ounce, with cash costs of $1,179 per gold equivalent ounce. Initial capital expenditure is $389 million. At current gold prices, the project has an after-tax net present value (discounted at 5%) of $1.9 billion, an after-tax internal rate of return of 97%, and a payback period of 1.0 year. At base case prices, the after-tax net present value is $774 million, with an internal rate of return of 46% and a payback period of 1.8 years.
Integra Resources President and CEO George Salamis stated that the deployment of early engineering capital signals the project will move through permitting and construction. The market expects a gradual de-risking of that value to obtain permits, and by deploying early engineering capital and project resources such as long-lead equipment to de-risk DeLamar, this helps increase confidence that DeLamar will be permitted and built.
Integra holds approximately $106 million in cash and is building reserves for the equity contribution required to advance DeLamar to a construction decision. The financing strategy leverages free cash flow from the producing Florida Canyon mine to increase company funds over the next two years. A completed $61 million bought deal transaction introduced 12 new institutional investors to the company, structured to alleviate pressure on Florida Canyon cash flow during the approximately 18-month period leading up to the anticipated ROD. Fund allocation from the raise includes $16 million for the 2026 early engineering program, $12 million for 2026 procurement, $12.5 million for land and ranch acquisitions, $4.5 million for 2027 early engineering, and $12.5 million for 2027 procurement. Debt discussions for project construction are targeted to begin in the second half of 2026.
Salamis clarified the funding targets and conditions supporting the equity contribution plan for DeLamar. If gold prices remain at current levels, the company will have ample funds to reach the equity contribution finish line. DeLamar project construction requires approximately $380 million in funding, a portion of which will be covered by debt, with debt discussions set to begin in the second half of this year.
The conclusion of the 30-day scoping period is the first verifiable checkpoint, after which the process moves into formal alternatives analysis and response to scoping comments. Technical modeling for air quality, hydrogeology, and geochemistry runs from the second quarter of 2026 through the first quarter of 2027, in parallel with EIS preparation from the third quarter of 2026 to the first quarter of 2027. The alternatives feasibility phase is planned for completion in the fourth quarter of 2026. The draft EIS and ROD review period covers the second and third quarters of 2027. The final EIS and ROD are targeted for release in the second half of 2027, at which point detailed engineering will also be complete. Salamis described 2026 as a preparation year, with early engineering and long-lead procurement as activities preparing for the full development of DeLamar in 2028.
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