Castle Mountain Mine Accepted Into The FAST-41 Program

VANCOUVER – Equinox Gold Corp. reported that the Castle Mountain Mine Phase Two Project in California has been accepted into the United States Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council’s FAST-41 program. FAST-41 is a federal permitting framework designed to streamline environmental reviews, improve interagency coordination, and increase transparency. Acceptance into the program is expected to enhance regulatory certainty through a defined permitting schedule that may reflect reduced permitting timelines. Based on the permitting timeline posted to the FAST-41 project dashboard the federal permitting process should be completed in December 2026.
Darren Hall, CEO, said, “Based on the March 2021 Feasibility Study, the project is expected to produce approximately 200,000 ounces of gold annually over a 14-year mine life, totaling 3.2 million ounces. With FAST-41 permitting status in place we’ve initiated study updates and project optimization to align with the permitting timeline and position the project for a timely construction decision. Once in production Castle Mountain will be a cornerstone asset, reinforcing our strategy of building a portfolio of long-life, low-cost mines in top-tier jurisdictions.”
Castle Mountain is located in San Bernardino County, California, approximately 200 miles north of Equinox Gold’s Mesquite Mine. Equinox Gold acquired Castle Mountain in December 2017 and operated a small open-pit heap leach gold mine from Q4 2020 to Q3 2024. The mine is currently performing re-leaching procedures while the Company advances permitting, engineering and optimization work. While the project is expected to operate within the existing approved mine boundary, the changes to previously analyzed effects, such as increased land disturbance within the mine boundary and increased water use, require modification to the Company’s approved Mine and Reclamation Plan and an updated Environmental Impact Statement / Environmental Impact Report.