McEwen Mining announced Tuesday that it will be on track to begin developing its open pit Gold Bar project in Nevada before the end of the year after reaching a new milestone in the permitting process.

The United States Environment Protection Agency published a Notice of Availability of the project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement in the Federal Register on October 6. After a month-long review period, the agency will publish a signed decision, which McEwen expects to happen in early November.

“This is a key permit milestone for our Gold Bar project, which, once constructed, is projected to produce 65,000 ounces of gold per year starting in 2019,” said Rob McEwen, the company’s chairman and chief owner, in a statement.

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Gold Bar, located in the Battle Mountain-Eureka-Cortez gold trend of central Nevada, will be an oxide gold heap leach operation and McEwen’s first gold mine in the United States. It has proven and probable gold reserves of 13.1 million tons at 1.10 grams per ton (g/t) gold, and measured and indicated gold resources of 22.1 million tons at 0.96 g/t gold.

The company also owns the nearby Afgan-Kobeh oxide gold property, which is expected to develop into a satellite resource to contribute to Gold Bar’s production.