MINEX Forum

Tag: copper

  • Chaarat inks deal to sell Armenia’s Kapan mine – DIGITALLOOK

    Chaarat inks deal to sell Armenia’s Kapan mine – DIGITALLOOK

    Chaarat Gold announced a binding agreement to sell its 100%-owned Armenian subsidiary Chaarat Kapan on Wednesday, which is responsible for the Kapan mining operation in southern Armenia.

    The AIM-traded firm said the deal, worth $55.4m, is between Chaarat and Gold Mining Company – a known entity in the Armenian mining space.

    It said the Kapan Mine had been functional since the 1960s, and was known for its polymetallic ore body, producing copper and zinc concentrates as well as by-products including gold and silver.

    Chaarat took ownership of the Kapan Mine in 2019, and since then, there had been significant improvements in the mine’s operational performance.

    It consistently met production guidance for between 50,000 and 65,000 gold equivalent ounces annually under Chaarat’s administration.

    The mine – Chaarat’s sole operating asset – brought in EBITDA of $22.7m in 2021 and $12.6m in 2022.

    However, its financial performance in the first half of 2023 was impacted by a persistently high Armenian dram against the dollar, as well as reduced production.

    The company said the sale’s consideration consisted of $55.4m, including $5m in cash and the remaining being offset by intra-group payables due to Chaarat Kapan.

    No adjustments would be made for debt, working capital, or other obligations.

    The board said completion remained contingent on a number of conditions, including approvals from Chaarat shareholders, Ameriabank, the Armenian Competition Protection Commission, and the buyer’s shareholders.

    Chaarat Gold justified the sale by highlighting its commitment to enhancing the Kapan Mine’s value over the years.

    Despite geopolitical challenges, including hostilities with neighbouring countries and the indirect effects of the Ukraine conflict, the firm said it managed to uphold its operational performance.

    However, the appreciation of the Armenian dram significantly affected its financial performance, with the sale set to allow Chaarat to concentrate on developing assets in Kyrgyzstan, and consider other external merger and acquisition opportunities.

    Post-sale, the proceeds would bolster Chaarat’s balance sheet, reducing its liabilities by $39m and offering a cash influx of $5m to support its ongoing projects, especially the Tulkubash project.

    With the sale, Chaarat would transition from a producer to a developer, as it planned to invest resources in its larger, low-cost development assets while simultaneously seeking funding for the ventures.

    Chaarat’s said its focus post-sale would be on its gold development assets, which had a combined book value of $82.5m and a potential production capacity of more than 350,000 ounces of gold annually.

    “The proposed sale allows Chaarat to focus on its growth pipeline in the gold sector with the aim of developing lower cost and higher value options within its portfolio,” said chief executive officer Mike Fraser.

    “It accelerates our strategic objective of developing the Tulkubash project and evaluating opportunities for inorganic growth options.”

    At 0908 BST, shares in Chaarat Gold Holdings were up 10.22% at 7.44p.

  • Adriatic Metals hails precious metals finds at Rupice

    Adriatic Metals hails precious metals finds at Rupice

    (Alliance News) – Adriatic Metals PLC on Wednesday gave an update on its Rupice northwest exploration which is part of the company’s Vares silver project.

    Adriatic Metals is a precious and base metals explorer and developer that owns the Vares silver project in Bosnia & Herzegovina and the Raska zinc deposit in Serbia.

    The company said it found 2.6 grams of gold per tonne, 409 grams of silver per tonne, about 12% zinc, 8.9% lead, 1.2% copper, 9% barium sulfate and 0.2% antimony in hole BR-30-23.

    Managing Director Paul Cronin said: “Additional exploration drilling, new geology, more tonnes at higher grades to the west of the current Rupice Northwest resource are adding significantly to the growth of Rupice. Faulting and folding have thickened and bent mineralization to vertical, with silver-gold-copper grades increasing in proximity to the deformation. Drilling will continue to define the western extent of RNW for a further resource update at the end of 2023.”

    Adriatic Metals rose 2.9% to 192.00 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.

     

  • Euro Sun Mining Provides Update on Rovina Valley Project Licensing Requirements

    Euro Sun Mining Provides Update on Rovina Valley Project Licensing Requirements

    The renewal is valid for two years, beginning July 2023. This is a significant milestone in the licensing process for the RVP, and it allows Euro Sun to move forward with the Land Rezoning Plan and Environmental Impact Assessment.

    The RVP is the second largest copper and gold deposit in Europe. It is designed to have one of the least environmental impacts globally, with no cyanide use or wet tailings. The project is expected to bring economic relief to the Hunedoara County in Romania, a region with a profound legacy in mining.

    Grant Sboros, CEO of Euro Sun Mining, commented on the renewal of the Certificate of Urbanisation: “This is a significant milestone for the RVP. It secures the mineral tenure and allows us to begin the formal procedure for the Land Rezoning Plan and Environmental Impact Assessment. We are grateful for the support of the Romanian authorities and the local communities. We are confident that the RVP will be a major economic driver for the region.”

    About Euro Sun Mining Inc.

    Euro Sun is a Toronto Stock Exchange listed mining company focused on the exploration and development of its 100%-owned Rovina Valley gold and copper project located in west-central Romania. The RVP is one of the largest gold and copper deposits in Europe, and it is expected to have a significant economic impact on the region.

  • Deepest in Poland – KGHM has a mining pit at 1348 meters level

    Deepest in Poland – KGHM has a mining pit at 1348 meters level

    [vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][distance desktop_type=”30″][lvs][distance desktop_type=”30″][vc_btn title=”Source – MarketScreener” color=”sky” i_type=”material” i_icon_material=”vc-material vc-material-perm_device_information” add_icon=”true” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketscreener.com%2Fquote%2Fstock%2FKGHM-POLSKA-MIED-S-A-1413331%2Fnews%2FDeepest-in-Poland-KGHM-has-a-mining-pit-at-1348-meters-level-44253282%2F|target:_blank”][distance desktop_type=”30″][vc_column_text]1348 meters is the deepest mining pit in Poland – KGHM Polska Miedz’s GG-1 shaft in Kwielice is one of the most important investments in the copper giant’s history and the largest underground project in the non-ferrous metals industry in Europe.

    In June, the key connection between the shaft and the Rudna Mine was made.

    The technical connection, i.e. the merge of excavations from the Rudna Mining Plants to the GG-1 shaft, was successfully carried out on June 14 this year. Work is now underway there, which will allow new amounts of fresh air to be supplied to the mine workings. This will definitely improve working conditions underground.

    The shaft is ready to build reinforcement and equip with the necessary installations and equipment for the target period. A three-meter layer of concrete has been poured on the bottom. The two basic parameters of the GG-1 shaft are: depth – 1,348 meters, and the diameter in the light of the casing, which is 7.5 meters. It is an intake-air shaft that will be used to transport people and materials.

    KGHM is a jewel in the crown, and the GG-1 shaft is an amazing project that will affect the safety of miners. I am full of admiration for all those who undertook this project. Everything is done so that miners can work in the best possible conditions. The GG-1 shaft is also a business, industrial, economic project. These are copper deposits that can be mined for decades to come,’ said Elzbieta Witek, Speaker of the Polish Parliament.

    The GG-1 shaft is a strategic investment by KGHM. It will provide the air that will enable us to exploit the Glogow Gleboki-Przemyslowy deposit at depths that were previously inaccessible to us. We are a global company, but domestic production is of fundamental importance to the company. The completed shaft, first of all, ensures safety, but also promotes more efficient work by miners,’ said Tomasz Zdzikot, Chairman of the Management Board of KGHM Polska Miedz S.A., during a press conference.

    The GG-1 shaft is of fundamental importance for the development of KGHM Polska Miedz S.A.. It will make it possible to open up new areas of the copper deposit and prolong the operation of the Polkowice-Sieroszowice and Rudna mines. The investment will also improve ventilation and air-conditioning conditions for miners and will shorten the routes of crews’ access to the pits.

    Shaft in numbers

    The GG-1 shaft complex is being built as part of the Deposit Opening Program conducted by the Department of Mining Structure Development at KGHM Headquarters. The work was carried out by a KGHM Group company, PeBeKa. The GG-1 shaft is one of the most important facilities that will serve to open up the Glogow Gleboki-Przemyslowy Mining Area

    The estimated industrial copper ore resources are nearly 265 million tons, with an average copper content of 2.40 %. This represents about 25 % of copper resources and more than 30 % of silver resources in all KGHM license areas in Poland. Access to these resources will secure the continuity of copper ore mining for many years to come.

    According to investment plans, in the years 2028-35, i.e. during the period of the greatest intensity of mining work, production from the Glogow Gleboki-Przemyslowy area is expected to be 10-11 million tons of ore, from which it will be possible to obtain about 200-220 thousand tons of electrolytic copper per year.

    History of the investment

    Construction of the GG-1 shaft began in 2010. Two years later, the shaft tower, which is one of the tallest ever erected by KGHM, began to be built. It is 45.5 meters high and weighs 1,100 tons. The equipment used in pilling the shaft includes a complex hoisting system with more than a dozen steel cables. Each more than 1,500 meters long, some weighing as much as 20 tons.

    In 2013, one of the key stages of construction began: the freezing of the rock mass preceding the shaft pilling. Brine was then flowed into 40 freezing holes. The first bucket of excavated material left GG-1 on December 11. A year later, specialists reached layers of solid rock at a depth of 393 meters. It was then that the method of shaft pilling was changed from mechanical excavation of the rock mass to the blasting method.

    To build up the first section of GG-1, PeBeKa employees used 466 iron rings, which protected the shaft from flooding with water from Tertiary and Triassic layers. To comprehensively protect GG-1 from the effects of water inflow, a modern so-called cascade drainage system was installed in the shaft. In subsequent years, as work progressed on further pilling the shaft, further elements of the drainage system were added. A total of eight stations were built there, pumping water cascading from the bottom of the shaft to the surface.

    This year, March also marks the 60th anniversary of the mining of the first cup of copper ore in the Copper Belt. It happened on March 20, 1963, in the L-III shaft belonging to the Lubin mine. One of the pioneers of Polish Copper, the late Jan Urlich recalled, ‘among the ore, we noticed a large chunk of dolomite, in which large veins of copper sulfides were visible. The joy was enormous. I thought: at last we have reached the deposit.’

    Shaft GG-1 is the company’s thirty-first shaft in the Copper Belt. Meanwhile, preparatory work has begun on the construction of another important facility in the Deposit Opening Program in the Glogow Gleboki-Przemyslowy and Gaworzyce mining areas. The GG-2 shaft, located in the municipality of Zukowice, will have an exit-material function.[/vc_column_text][distance desktop_type=”30″][/vc_column][/vc_row][/vc_section]

  • Processing of copper ores and production of cathode copper

    Processing of copper ores and production of cathode copper

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Source: Kazakh Invest[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Project

    Launch of mining and processing of copper ores at the Sayak deposit and production of cathode copper and copper concentrates.

    Company

    The project operator, Advanced Mining Technologies LLP, has licenses for the extraction of minerals at the Sayak deposit in the Karaganda region. The ultimate beneficiary is Commonwealth American Partners L.P. (through LLP “First Eurasian Mining”), a company with 20 years of experience in the oil and metallurgical industries in the world.

    Market

    In 2020, the global copper market is valued at $145.5 billion, with an expected CAGR of 2% over the next decade. By 2028, global copper production is expected to reach 28.7 million tons (up from 21.4 million tons in 2019). The Asia-Pacific region (including China and India) is the largest market for copper, where demand for copper was 17.3 million tons last year alone. It is expected that by 2021 the demand for copper in the region will increase to 18 million tons, and global consumption – 25.2 million tons.

    What is the attraction of the project?

    The company has reached an agreement with international partners (including Glencore, Trafigura, Traxys, Noble Group, etc.). Kazakhstan has 37 million tons of copper reserves (8th place in terms of reserves or 4.7% of the total reserves in the world). To date, 55 copper deposits have been registered in the State Balance of Natural Resources of Kazakhstan, mainly in the Karaganda and East Kazakhstan regions.

    Investment proposal

    It is proposed to sell a stake in the company for $58.4 million to launch the production of cathode copper in Kazakhstan. The determination of the share will be reached in the course of negotiations.

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