Metalnewsnet 7 May:

General Moly Inc. is hopeful that it can secure all the necessary permits to begin construction at its Mount Hope molybdenum project in Eureka County, Nev., early next year.

The Nevada District Court late last month remanded back for a new hearing a Nevada state engineer's decision to grant water permits to the company. The Lakewood, Colo.-based company already holds water permits at the site for agricultural uses, but needs the engineer to convert those permits to mining uses before work at the site can begin.

"(We're) working to expedite the schedule to the extent possible and anticipate the re-granting of water applications to occur in the second half of the year," the company said in its earnings report.

The company also expects the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to complete an administrative draft environmental impact statement (EIS) mid-year and issue a decision late in the fourth quarter or early in 2011.

General Moly plans to bring Mount Hope online in late 2012 or early 2013 with production of about 30 million pounds per year.

South Korean steelmaker Posco Ltd. holds a 20-percent stake in the Mount Hope molybdenum mine via an investment of $170 million in 2007. Additionally, ArcelorMittal now holds a 15-year offtake agreement for the mine and last month a subsidiary of China's Sichuan Hanlong (Group) Co. Ltd. agreed to loan $665 million to General Moly and bought a 25-percent stake. In late April, the company drew the first $10 million tranche of the bridge loan under the Hanlong agreement

General Moly posted a first-quarter net loss of $2.8 million, a 6.7-percent improvement from a $3-million loss in the same period last year, but the company's cash balance at the end of the quarter fell to about $25 million from $49 million at the end of 2009.