All right, welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. Joining me now is Jason Begger. He is the U.S. Gold Government Affairs and Community Relations Manager. Jason, it's great to see you again. How are you?
I'm doing well. Thanks for having me back.
Yeah. I thought it'd be a great opportunity to sort of, talk about a number of issues, and really talk about project itself and, and, and the importance of it in the jurisdiction you're in. Let's talk about the jurisdiction first off, and, and, and just the, the, the positivity that you're hearing from, Wyoming about your project.
Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, Wyoming is hands down, you know, a m- a mining state. You know, that's kind of what brought some of the original folks here, you know, 200 years ago and, and, that sort of legacy of mining has carried on, you know, over the, over the entire statehood. People get under- get mining, they understand it, they understand how to do projects the right way. You know, it's a, it's a state that has other incredible natural resources. You know, we get millions of tourists every year for, you know, Yellowstone National Park or Grand Teton National Park, yet we, we've been able to strike that balance between, you know, resource development and the right way to do things.
You know, as U.S. Gold has prepared their plan to deploy and, and, and build out the CK Gold Mine, people recognize that this is a project that's done the right way, and, and people have really rallied behind it.
That's really evident in, in the, the permitting approval process, right? How that's done and, and how it's received.
Yeah, absolutely. You know, the entire permit approval process is a very open dialogue between, you know, not only the company and the regulators, but also, you know, stakeholders. There's a lot of opportunity for people to commit, comment, and be a part of this. You know, what we've really found is through our legwork, going through the permitting process, we've been able to allay a lot of concerns and fears and really, the permitting process has gone fairly smoothly.
Yeah. Let, let's talk a little bit about Wyoming itself, 'cause obviously, as a state, they're trying to, to create jobs, they're trying to, to, you know, have revenue come into the state, that's a big part of, of what US Gold is attempting to do with your project as well. Obviously, you're trying to fill a need, but I would imagine as well, through taxes and royalties and, and job creation, it, it's a real bonus for the state of Wyoming, and I'm sure they've told you that as well.
Absolutely. You know, through the pre-feasibility work and which will be, you know, updated later this year, but the numbers from you know, two, three years ago, figured about a $70 million-$80 million, you know, tax and royalty impact to the state of Wyoming. So at a time when, you know, we're seeing some of the traditional coal mines contract, them facing, you know, regulatory and political uphill battles, you know, the state has been very receptive to another resource project that's outside of, you know, those traditional commodities.
you know, a big part of this project in, in building that, that support is helping them understand what the true economics will be, you know, in terms of jobs and taxes, you know, services and vendors, and, and all the things that go into truly understanding the economics of the project.
Yeah. Also, they wanna fit in, in Wyoming, I would imagine, to, to this, the philosophy of what's going on in the U.S. about, about making sure that you have, your resources are, are, are in the U.S., that are staying in the U.S. and using it in the U.S., and, and how important that supply chain is. I, I would imagine that the conversations like that, you've had many, many times with state officials.
Oh, absolutely. You know, when you look at our congressional delegations, for example, you know, Senator John Barrasso is the ranking member on key energy and natural resources committees in Washington, D.C. A big part of his portfolio is domestic security. You know, being able to supply what we need in the U.S. in terms of critical minerals and copper and everything else that goes into a resilient, you know, modern economy, it's better to be in control of your own destiny as opposed to trying to source materials from countries that are either politically unstable or just flat out or not friendly.
Yeah. Lastly, Jason, you and I have talked in the past about, about the way U.S. Gold Corp. conducts business and just about being environmentally friendly and doing things the right way. I would imagine that, you know, the one thing about the state is it's a beautiful state. If you've never been to Wyoming, it is quite beautiful, and I would imagine that, that they wanna keep that beauty intact. Projects where there's a emphasis on doing it the right way, I think would be something that they look to support even more.
Oh, absolutely. You know, I, I mentioned, you know, Wyoming does certainly support these projects, and we have regulators that are very experienced in regulating and, and structuring project approvals the right way to do things the right way. Just because they're supportive doesn't mean we get a free pass. You know, Wyoming still has some incredibly rigorous standards, and just given the team that U.S. Gold has put together and, and their experience in building out projects all over the world, they've, they've, they've got a lot of knowledge on best practices and the best ways to do things and alternatives to do things that have really allayed a lot of our regulators' concerns and just the upfront nature of how the, the company has approached the project.
You know, we're gonna be very involved in the community, we're gonna communicate, we're gonna have the hard conversations, sometimes, you know, as uncomfortable as they are, and that has all paid dividends. You know, and, you know, some people will say, you know, "A 3-year permitting process, wow, that, you know, that's a long time." In terms of developing out of mine, that's light speed. That just really speaks to how the company has conducted themselves and approached themselves in Wyoming.
Absolutely, makes a lot of sense. Jason, thanks so much. Good update, and I really appreciate your time.
You bet. Thanks, Steve.
All right, Jason Begger, he is the, U.S. Gold Government Affairs and Community Relations Manager.