KazakhGold JV Wins Gold Plant

KazakhGold Group Ltd 24 November 2006 November 24, 2006 KazakhGold-Oxus Joint Venture Successfully Bids For Transgold Plant And Deposits In Romania • Plant And Related Assets Acquired For US$6.99 Million • New 50:50 Romaltyn JV Set Up To Manage Project • Low Cost High Return Cash Generative Gold Venture KazakhGold Group Limited (London: KZG) announces that, together with AIM-listed Oxus Gold, it has successfully bid US$6.99 million (inclusive of US$1.12m VAT) in open auction for the assets of a gold project in Romania that were put into in liquidation in April, 2005. The newly formed 50:50 joint venture, Romaltyn, expects to recommission the project and bring it back into production in approximately six months time. The project offers the potential to generate rapid payback on investment and provides an opportunity for exploration and development of additional resources in the area. The assets include a 2.5mt/yr gold treatment plant, formerly operated by Transgold, a 50:50 joint venture company between Eurogold and Remin, the Romanian state mining company. The plant, located on the outskirts of the town of Baia Mare, ceased operation in 2005 when the tailings line froze and insufficient funds were available to rectify the problem. Other assets acquired by the Romaltyn JV are the 8.5m tonnes Central Tailings dump located 7.8km from the plant, together with stockpiled gold-bearing pyrite resources and two exploration tenements, Sophia and June 11, over which 12-month exploration licences will be re-instated. In a second auction, the two JV companies paid US$300,000 for Explorer SA, a company in voluntary liquidation which holds three further exploration tenements in the area, the largest of which, Rascau South East, has a three-year exploration licence. The Transgold plant was designed and built by Lycopodium for US$28m and has an estimated replacement cost of around US$40m. The JV estimates that it can be brought back into production after expenditure of approximately US$5.25m on clean-up, minor repairs and the replacement of some equipment. Thus the total financial commitment by the joint venture is estimated to be US$12.54m. Once recommissioned, the plant would treat approximately 2m tonnes of tailings in the first year. The average recoverable gold grade of this material is estimated at 0.48g/t gold which, at a gold price of US$620/oz, would generate revenues of US$19m and a healthy operating margin. The auction process on behalf of the joint bidders was led by John Cutler, chief executive of MAED Ltd, the international engineering group specialising in the design, construction and operation of process plants for a broad spectrum of metals. MAED will be leading the rehabilitation and recommissioning of the Transgold plant before handing over the project to the joint venture management team Oxus Gold has been interested in acquiring the Baia Mare plant for some time and has a thorough understanding of its capabilities. KazakhGold visited the plant in 2002 whilst investigating the possibility of establishing a working relationship with Eurogold. Commenting today, Dr Kanat Assaubayev, President of KazakhGold, said: 'Although the key focus for the KazakhGold management team is developing the mines at the three main deposits, Aksu, Bestobet and Zholymbet in Kazakhstan, today's announcement represents a small exciting joint venture opportunity which we are confident will achieve high returns.' Further information: Ron Marshman/John Greenhalgh City of London PR Limited Tel: 020-7628-5518 Conference Call Mr Aidar Assaubayev, Deputy Chief Executive of KazakhGold, will be explaining the rationale behind the bid and answering questions via a conference call facility arranged for 11.00am London time today. Those wishing to participate should telephone: 00 +44 7162 9962 PIN: 729331# This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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