Permitting
Stage 6 of 8
Seeking the environmental and regulatory approvals required before construction can legally begin.
Before construction can begin, a project needs environmental and regulatory approval — often the least predictable stage in the entire lifecycle. Timelines vary enormously by jurisdiction, from well under a year in some mining-friendly regions to many years in others, and permitting risk is a major component of the jurisdiction risk score shown elsewhere on this site. Community and Indigenous engagement, environmental assessments, and water/tailings permits are typically the biggest line items here.
P / NAV, discounted for timeline risk
Often flat or dips here — the floor of the industry's 'valley of death', since permitting timelines are the least predictable variable in the lifecycle.
With the deposit and its economics essentially fixed, jurisdiction quality stops being one input among several and becomes the whole story — the open question is how long approvals take and how much dilution gets absorbed waiting for them.