Southern Empire Resources : Updates Permitting Status for its Oro Cruz Project in California

About this update from Southern Empire Resources Corp

Southern Empire Resources Corp. (Southern Empire; TSX-V: SMP) announces that it is reviewing a range of exploration and confirmation drilling options for its wholly-owned Oro Cruz Project located in Imperial County, California. This review follows the unexpected acceptance by the Imperial County Board of Supervisors (ICBS), at a hearing on March 19, 2024, of appeals lodged by the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation (the Quechan) and the Center for Biological Diversity (the CBD) opposing the previous Imperial County Planning Commission (ICPC) certification of the Mitigated Negative Declaration and approval of the Reclamation Plan for the Oro Cruz Project Exploration Plan of Operations (the Plan) on January 10, 2024. Voting results at the March 19, 2024 ICBS hearing by its members were three to one (one member recused) in support of the appeals. As previously announced by Southern Empire on January 16, 2024, the ICPC made the following determinations regarding the Plan and the Reclamation Plan at their January 10, 2024 hearing: The Oro Cruz Project will not have a significant effect on the environment. A Negative Declaration was prepared for the Oro Cruz Project pursuant to the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Mitigation measures were made a condition of the approval of the project. Mitigation reporting and monitoring plans were adopted for the project. A statement of Overriding Considerations was not adopted for the project. Findings were made pursuant to the provisions of CEQA. Southern Empire observes, that in ruling at the March 19, 2024 hearing, members of the ICBS did not comment on the issue the ICBS was convened to consider, specifically the merits of the Oro Cruz Project Reclamation Plan and supporting Environmental Assessment and Mitigated Negative Determination (EA/MND), which were supported in the January 10, 2024 ICPC hearing decision by a six to one vote count. In the March 19, 2024 hearing, members of the ICBS supporting the appeals primarily cited oral statements from the misinformed public claiming a lack of government-to-government consultation between Imperial County and/or the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Quechan. The assertion that required government-to-government consultation was neither offered nor occurred is not supported by the document record. The document record provides an ...

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