11:06 AM EST, 02/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with National Bank comments in paragraphs 6 and 7, and shares in the last paragraph)

Foran Mining ( FMCXF ) on Tuesday said construction at its 100% owned McIlvenna Bay project in Saskatchewan "continues to advance steadily, with significant progress made across key areas of development".

"Entering the most important year in our company's history, we are building on a strong 2024 as we advance toward producer status. Significant strides in engineering, procurement, and development in the fourth quarter have positioned us for the next phase of execution -- led through our Integrated Project Management Team with G Mining Services and our strategy to self-perform," said Foran Chief Executive Dan Myerson. "McIlvenna Bay is more than just a mining project -- it's a generational opportunity to establish a premier producer in a world class jurisdiction, ensuring a secure, sustainable, and scalable supply of critical minerals for North America."

The company said the construction team in Q4, had started to erect structural steel for the plant. Foran said enclosure around the grinding mills is scheduled for completion by March 2025 with the balance of structural steel expected to be completed by the end of Q1 2025.

Foran Mining ( FMCXF ) expects engineering to be completed by the end of Q1 and to complete about 7,000m of decline development in 2025. The company added that underground crews were still on track to build a 272,000 tonne ore stockpile prior to mill production ramp-up.

The project remains on schedule to start hot commissioning in the second half of 2025 and commercial production in the first half of 2026.

On the outperform-rated company, National Bank of Canada said it is "pleased to see construction is progressing on schedule at the McIlvenna Bay project and commercial production remains track for H1 2026."

The bank said it was looking forward to the company's, Q4 2024 financials and results from ongoing exploration efforts across the McIlvenna Bay district. National Bank of Canada analysts led by Rabi Nizami, also expects an updated technical report from Foran, whose price target is $5.75, on McIlvenna Bay in Q1, to formalize and detail the project as outlined at the construction decision last summer.

Shares were last seen down $0.015, or 0.4%, at $3.995 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Price: 4.00, Change: -0.01, Percent Change: -0.37