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A year from the planned start of major construction activities at its Blackwater gold project, Artemis Gold (TSXV: ARTG) has submitted applications to the British Columbia government so that it can begin early works on the project site.

The Blackwater project, located approximately 160 km southwest of Prince George in central BC, was acquired by Artemis from New Gold (TSX: NGD) in a C$190 million cash deal last summer.

The early works program is designed to focus on clearing of key infrastructure areas including haul roads, the stage 1 tailing storage facility and camp areas.

In addition, construction of the mine access road and plant-site bulk earthworks will be fast-tracked to facilitate early mobilization of the engineering, procurement and construction contractor to site upon receipt of major works permits.

“The early works construction permit for Blackwater has been submitted as planned, in order to provide flexibility to manage seasonal and other factors ahead of major construction kick-off,” Artemis chairman and CEO Steven Dean said in a news release.

“The provincial government has demonstrated good support to move forward with our development activities at Blackwater, and this permit is part of that coordinated plan,” he added.

Shortly after the acquisition, Artemis released a revised prefeasibility study, envisioning a 23-year open-pit operation, with a staged development, that would generate 7.5 million ounces of gold over its mine life.