Fortitude Gold Corp. announced that the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection have granted all required permits for the Scarlet South open‑pit gold mine on its Isabella Pearl property in Mineral County, Nevada. The approval covers construction, operation, and environmental compliance for the new mine, which sits just 500 meters northwest of the company’s existing Isabella Pearl operation.
The permit unlocks a key component of Fortitude’s single‑asset expansion strategy. By leveraging the existing Isabella Pearl processing plant and infrastructure, the company can keep capital expenditures lower and accelerate the development timeline. Management expects construction to begin in the second half of 2026, with first‑quarter 2026 production slated for the Scarlet South mine alongside the already‑operating Isabella Pearl and the County Line mine.
Fortitude’s 2024 year‑end results—$37.3 million in net sales and 16,472 ounces of gold—provide a baseline for assessing the new mine’s contribution. The company projects that the Scarlet South project will add a significant portion of its future gold output, potentially boosting revenue and cash flow in the coming years. The permit also removes a long‑standing bottleneck in Nevada’s permitting process, improving the company’s project pipeline reliability.
CEO Jason Reid highlighted the regulatory shift, noting that “the current administration’s focus on the FAST‑41 program has helped expedite permits that were previously delayed under the Biden era backlog.” He added that the proximity of Scarlet South to Isabella Pearl will allow the company to share infrastructure, reducing costs and speeding up the path to production.
With permits in hand, Fortitude can move from planning to active development. The company’s strategy to bring all three mines—Isabella Pearl, Scarlet South, and County Line—online in the first quarter of 2026 positions it to increase gold production and strengthen its market standing in the high‑margin, low‑cost segment of the U.S. gold mining industry.
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