The ASIA Miner - Reporting Important Issues to Mining Companies in the Asia Pacific Region
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44 | ASIA Miner | Volume 14 • Issue 2 | 2017 Central Asia CENTERRA Gold will begin a three year construction program to raise the tailings dam at the Kumtor Gold Project in the Kyrgyz Republic to the 3674 metre elevation after receiving the relevant permits from Kyrgyz authorities. The project will provide adequate tailings storage capacity for mill tailings deposition from 2021 until the end of 2024. The tailings dam construction this year is the first such construc- tion required to contain the additional 3.6 million ounces of gold reserves that resulted from the KS-13 pit expansion. It is estimated that in 2017 the company will invest approximately $11 million of the total estimated investment of $32 million. The tailings dam approval process at Kumtor requires the mine to permit each of the 3 metre tailings dam raises. After the initial raise is completed in 2020, the mine would then submit a design to raise the dam to the final elevation of 3677.5 starting in 2021. The company expects that it would apply for and receive, in the ordinary course, the necessary approvals and permits for the final tailings dam raise. Mining activities at Kumtor in the fourth quarter of 2016 focused on waste stripping of cut-back 18 in accordance to the mine devel- opment plan, while the mill primarily processed ore from stockpiles. Mining of cut-back 17 was completed in early-October 2016. Gold production for the quarter was 200,762 ounces compared to 130,610 ounces in the comparative quarter of 2015 due to 38% higher average mill head grade and a 5% higher recovery rate, as a result of mining and processing the high-grade ore from cut-back 17. Kumtor's mill processed approximately 1.6 million tonnes for the fourth quarter, 5% higher than the comparative quarter of 2015, as a result of actions taken to increase the throughput including blending harder and softer ore, opening screens in the SAG mill and increas- ing the grinding media sizes in the SAG and ball mills. This year Kumtor will continue to process ore stockpiled from cut- back 17, while mining focuses on waste stripping from cut-back 18, and mining the recently permitted near-surface Sarytor satellite deposit. Kumtor's production forecast in 2017 is expected to be in the range of 455,000-505,000 ounces with 30% of production expect- ed to be in the fourth quarter. CHAARAT Gold Holdings will use US$15 million raised by issuing short term senior secured convertible loan notes to advance its Tulkubash Heap Leach Project in the Kyrgyz Republic. The com- pany is moving in to the first phase of development at Tulkubash, which forms part of the larger Chaarat Gold Project in the country's west. The funds will allow Chaarat to drill 12,000 metres to increase the reserve base of Tulkubash; construct a new section of the access road; start basic and detailed engineering design; and recruit con- struction and operating teams. Chaarat Gold completed a feasibility study in 2016 for the Chaarat deposit, a 7.04 million ounce resource. The first lower risk start-up phase of the development will be a mid-size heap leach operation at Tulkubash on which a bankable feasibility study (BFS) is now under way. The resource underpinning Tulkubash comprises only 13% of the total Chaarat resource. The directors believe that there is signifi- cant upside beyond this initial phase including additional exploration along strike in order to extend the life of the heap leach operation and, in due course, the development of the larger refractory re- source. Chaarat has been investigating the impact of different processing capacities to increase production from the project. In parallel, pre- liminary negotiations with various potential project finance provid- ers have resulted in a recommendation from Endeavour Financial, Chaarat's financial advisors, that the Tulkubash reserve base be enlarged in order to significantly extend the life of mine beyond the period required to pay back the project finance. The Chaarat team has therefore planned a drilling program to increase the heap leachable reserve base, which will take place throughout the 2017 season. The drilling companies that will carry out the program have been selected and will start work in May. Based on an increased reserve, the mine plan will be updated and it is expected that the pre-stripping required before mining can commence will be considerably reduced. The permit for construction of the new portion of the access road has been obtained and construction will begin as soon as the weather improves. Tenders are under way to select the contractors to build the road. The company aims to achieve the first gold pour from Tulkubash in 2019. Kumtor tailings project approved The Chaarat Gold Project is in the prolific Tien Shan gold belt that stretches from western Uzbekistan to western China. Chaarat raises funds for Tulkubash