DeLamar's 15-Month Clock Has Started: 7 Things You Need to Know

Project Overview

The Notice of Intent (NOI) published by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) marks the transition of DeLamar from technical development into active federal permitting. The project, located in Owyhee County, Idaho, is an open-pit heap-leach gold and silver deposit that has advanced through a Preliminary Economic Assessment in 2019, a Pre-Feasibility Study in 2022, and a Feasibility Study (FS) dated February 2026, with an effective date of December 2025.

The NOI publication is the outcome of more than seven years of environmental baseline studies and technical work, and of a preparatory process beginning in the fourth quarter of 2025, during which Integra Resources (TSXV : ITROTCQB : MLPMF) prepared and reviewed the draft NOI package with regulators. Over 49,000 stakeholders have been engaged through more than 1,400 events since 2021. With the NOI now published, the controlling variable for the project has shifted from technical readiness to permitting execution.

1. What the NOI Publication Actually Triggers

The NOI is not a permit approval or a permit application; it is the formal commencement of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) preparation under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Publication initiates a structured public scoping and stakeholder engagement process with defined statutory obligations, beginning with a 30-day public comment period. Following the close of that comment period, the BLM conducts its environmental analysis and is expected to publish the final EIS and Record of Decision in the second half of 2027. The NOI does not accelerate or bypass the statutory review process; it starts it.

2. How FAST-41 Structures the 15-Month Timeline

DeLamar's selection into the FAST-41 Transparency Projects Program in January 2026 converts what would otherwise be an open-ended federal review into a publicly tracked, sequenced process with defined decision gates. FAST-41 is a federal permitting framework established in 2015 under Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act and is overseen by the Federal Permitting Council, which comprises 13 federal agencies, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Council on Environmental Quality. The framework was designed to improve interagency coordination and transparency for critical infrastructure projects.

Selection into the programme provides enhanced federal support, oversight, accelerated decision-making, and increased process certainty. FAST-41 formally posts DeLamar to the Federal Permitting Dashboard and establishes the structured 15-month NEPA timeline. The practical effect for investors is that the permitting sequence is now visible, accountable, and governed by a defined institutional architecture, not subject to indefinite agency discretion.

3. What Happens Inside the 15 Months

The 15-month window is a staged sequence of parallel technical workstreams and agency milestones, not a single undifferentiated review period. The process is targeted to run from the publication of the NOI in May 2026 through a Record of Decision in the third quarter of 2027, with construction start targeted for the third quarter of 2028.

Following the close of the 30-day public scoping comment period, EIS preparation is expected to advance through scoping comment analysis, alternatives analysis, air quality modelling, hydrogeology and geochemistry modelling, and assessment of proposed alternatives, spanning the second and third quarters of 2026 and into the second quarter of 2027. The draft EIS and draft Record of Decision review are then targeted for the second and third quarters of 2027, ahead of final EIS and Record of Decision publication in the third quarter of 2027. Integra has characterised 2026 as a year of stability and de-risking, with 2027 and 2028 framed as growth years.

4. The Ranch Purchase as Permitting Infrastructure

Integra's acquisition of a 6,600-acre ranch ahead of the formal permitting window positions the company to satisfy a recognised dependency in the EIS process rather than resolve it during agency review. Wetland disturbance is an anticipated consequence of DeLamar's development and operating activities, and the ranch acquisition provides off-site mitigation opportunities and senior water rights, including drought risk mitigation, ahead of that review.

President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Integra Resources, George Salamis, on the mitigation logic behind the acquisition:

"We'll be obviously disturbing some of the wetlands in and around DeLamar in our development and operating process. There are numerous mitigation opportunities that this ranch comes with, so in other words, what we disturb here we can mitigate against over here with the purchase of this ranch land."

The acquisition cost $12.5 million and was funded from the February 2026 bought deal proceeds. The transaction does not alter or shorten the statutory NEPA process timeline, but it removes a material dependency on an agency review by providing the mitigation instrument in advance of the formal alternatives analysis.

5. How Florida Canyon Funds the Permitting Window

The $61 million bought deal closed in February 2026, enabling Integra to execute early works and procurement in parallel to the 15-month permitting process rather than waiting for the Record of Decision. Approximately $16.0 million is allocated to the 2026 early works programme, $12.0 million to 2026 procurement, $12.5 million to land acquisition, $4.5 million to the 2027 early works programme, and $12.5 million to 2027 procurement. Debt financing discussions are targeted to begin in the second half of 2026, with project financing preparations formally underway this year.

Salamis is direct about why the company is deploying capital during the permitting window rather than waiting for the Record of Decision:

"The market is expecting us to de-risk that value in steps to get it permitted and by deploying that capital,  early works capital, long lead items, to de-risk DeLamar, we feel that will just add confidence that not only will DeLamar get permitted but it'll actually get built."

The parallel capital deployment strategy is specifically designed to avoid drawing down Florida Canyon's operating cash flow. On the equity funding path, Salamis frames it plainly:

"There will be free cash flow from Florida Canyon that will continue to get built up in the treasury over time, the view is obviously to build up as large of a cash position in the treasury as we can so as to finance DeLamar, the equity piece, in another two years from now, and we think that we can get to that finish line pretty handily with a very robust treasury."

Florida Canyon's free cash flow is targeted to build equity to meet DeLamar's construction requirements over the 2026 to 2028 window, reducing the need for additional dilutive capital raises ahead of construction.

6. Idaho's Regulatory & Political Environment

DeLamar is advancing through a jurisdiction with a relatively low risk of political or regulatory disruption. Idaho has a long history of responsible mining activity, and the project has attracted public statements of support from US Senators Mike Crapo and James Risch, and US Congressman Russ Fulcher, who have framed DeLamar as critical for domestic mineral supply chains and rural employment. Senator Risch separately called on Congress to cut red tape and streamline the permitting process so the project can move forward expeditiously.

At the federal executive level, President Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 titled "Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production," which focuses on fast-tracking permits and expanding land access. Integra has also secured a formalised Relationship Agreement with the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes, covering economic participation, governance, and life-of-mine commitments. The combination of bipartisan congressional support, a federal executive posture oriented toward permitting acceleration, and a formalised tribal agreement collectively reduces the jurisdictional risk profile of the DeLamar process.

7. The Economics the Timeline Is Protecting

DeLamar's February 2026 FS establishes the downstream value that the 15-month permitting process either protects or defers. The project returns an after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate (NPV5%) of $1.9 billion, an after-tax internal rate of return of 97%, and a payback period of 1.0 year on initial capital expenditure of $389 million. The mine is planned for a ten-year operating life.

Total payable production is stated at 1.1 million gold-equivalent ounces over the mine life, with average annual production of 106,000 gold-equivalent ounces across the life of mine and 119,000 gold-equivalent ounces per year in the first five years. At these economics, adherence to the permitting timeline is the primary variable determining when and whether that value becomes accessible to investors. A Record of Decision in the third quarter of 2027, followed by a construction start in the third quarter of 2028, is the sequence that preserves the full value of the project as modelled.

Key Takeaway for Investors

• The Bureau of Land Management's publication of the Notice of Intent marks the formal commencement of EIS preparation under the NEPA, not a permitting approval, and initiates a structured public scoping and engagement process with defined statutory obligations.
• DeLamar's selection into the FAST-41 Transparency Projects Program in January 2026 converts the permitting process from an open-ended federal review into a publicly tracked, sequenced timeline governed by the Federal Permitting Council and visible on the Federal Permitting Dashboard.
• The $61 million bought deal closed in February 2026, funds early works and procurement in parallel to permitting, while the 6,600-acre ranch acquisition removes the wetlands mitigation dependency from the agency review process ahead of the EIS alternatives analysis.
• Bipartisan support from Idaho's congressional delegation, a federal executive order directing permitting acceleration signed in March 2025, and a formalised Relationship Agreement with the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes collectively reduce the jurisdictional and political risk profile of the permitting process.
• DeLamar's February 2026 Feasibility Study returns an after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate of $1.9 billion, a 97% internal rate of return, and a one-year payback on $389 million in initial capital expenditure, making the Record of Decision in the third quarter of 2027 the primary value-access gate investors must now track.

Bottom Line

The close of the 30-day public scoping comment period marks the first material milestone in the 15-month timeline that began with the publication of the NOI. Following that close, the BLM is expected to transition into EIS drafting, advancing through the alternatives analysis and technical modelling workstreams targeted for completion by the second quarter of 2027. A Record of Decision is targeted for the third quarter of 2027, with a construction start targeted for the third quarter of 2028.

The controlling variable for DeLamar has shifted from technical de-risking to permitting execution. The project enters the NEPA process with its FS economics confirmed, its mitigation infrastructure in place, its early works capital deployed, and its equity funding path structured around Florida Canyon's free cash flow. What the next 15 months determine is whether the NPV5% of $1.9 billion the FS projects becomes available on the timeline implied by the permitting schedule.