Atalaya Mining Plc. (AIM:ATYM, TSX:AYM), the European mining and development company, is pleased to provide a positive update relating to the environmental permits at Proyecto Riotinto.

The Junta de Andalucía (“JdA”) has issued a favorable report in relation to the Unified Environmental Authorization (the “AAU”) of Proyecto Riotinto. The AAU is now on a short legal consultation period exclusively with parties involved in the process. After this process is completed, the JdA is expected to issue the validated AAU.

This process will finally resolve all the administrative issues identified in the ruling of the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucía (“TSJA”) on 19 September 2018 regarding the AAU.

The validation of the AAU is a required step towards the automatic re-validation of the mining permit for Proyecto Riotinto. The Company continues to operate the mine normally and will update the market on any development in due course.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) no 596/2014.


Atalaya Mining Plc. (AIM:ATYM, TSX:AYM) notes the recent press release issued by the regional government of Galicia (“Xunta de Galicia”) relating to Proyecto Touro (the “Project”).

The “Dirección Xeral de Calidade Ambiental e Cambio Climático”, (the General Directorate for the Environment and Climate Change of Galicia), announced yesterday that a negative Environmental Impact Statement for Proyecto Touro (Declaración de Impacto Ambiental) had been signed and will be formally communicated to the Mines, Energy and Industry Department of the Xunta de Galicia.

The short release stated that the decision is based on two reports which form part of a wider evaluation consisting of fifteen reports produced by different departments of the Xunta de Galicia. These two reports challenge the ability of the Company to guarantee that there will be no environmental impact of the Project on the Ulla River and related protected ecosystems which are located downstream.

The Company is currently awaiting the formal communication from the Xunta de Galicia. In the meantime the Company, along with its advisers, will evaluate potential next steps for the Project, which could include an appeal of the decision made by the Xunta de Galicia, and/or the clarification of the questions raised by the reports.

The Company will update the market on any development in due course.

Alberto Lavandeira, CEO, commented:
“Proyecto Touro has been designed with a fully lined tailings storage facility, constructed downstream using compacted rocks and with a guaranteed zero discharge policy following international standards and best practice.
“We are very surprised by the public statements made by the representative of the Environmental Department of the Xunta de Galicia.

“We will continue to explore all possible avenues to develop the Proyecto Touro and shall build on the excellent work performed by a very large team of world class specialists, including all the Universities of Galicia, for over 2 years and containing over 15,000 pages of reports, all of which have been questioned without the Company being further consulted.”

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) no 596/2014.