Native Mineral Resources has chalked up a regulatory milestone in its bid to bring Far Fanning online as its next open-pit mine within the Charters Towers region.

Subsidiary Fortified Gold lodged a progressive rehabilitation and closure plan (PRCP) for the project with the Queensland Department of the Environment on June 30.

Native Mineral Resources (ASX: NMR) managing director and chief executive officer Blake Cannavo said Far Fanning was one of the company’s highest-quality growth assets with the potential to become an important long-term source of mill feed for the Blackjack processing plant.

“Lodging the Far Fanning PRCP represents another significant milestone for Native Mineral Resources and reflects the considerable work undertaken by our technical, environmental and operational teams over recent months,” Mr Cannavo said.

“The recent amendment to Queensland environmental legislation provides a clearer regulatory framework for advancing mining projects while PRCP assessments are underway, subject to the applicable legislative requirements.

“This provides greater certainty for project planning and development as we continue progressing Far Fanning towards production.”

The Far Fanning project, 45km north-east of Charters Towers, comprises five granted mining leases and hosts an inferred mineral resource of 2.3Mt at 1.84g/t gold for 138,000oz of gold.

The company said current drilling at Far Fanning was expected to further improve geological confidence and support future resource updates.

Related: Far Fanning stockpile samples yield up to 85.1g/t gold

Far Fanning and Blackjack were among a raft of North Queensland gold assets Native Mineral Resources acquired in an $18.9 million deal in 2024.

Historical mining at the site included eight shallow oxide pits that were processed using heap leaching in 1986 and 1987.

Between 2000 and 2004, SMC Gold mined fresh material from three pits and a two-level underground operation beneath the main pit.

Following NMR’s submission of the PRCP, development activities at Far Fanning continue to advance.

In addition to drilling campaigns, it is hauling stockpiled material for processing at the Blackjack plant and progressing site establishment activities in preparation for future mining operations.

NMR said a Blackjack gold mine PRCP had also been finalised and was expected to be lodged within the coming days.