Capex forecast for Chaarat in Kyrgyzstan lowered by 31% to $470 mln, NPV estimated at $615 mln
MOSCOW. April 21 (Interfax) - Chaarat Gold Holdings has reviewed key parameters of the feasibility study of its Chaarat project in Kyrgyzstan.
The company said in a statement that the estimate of capex before reaching design capacity was lowered by 31%, from $684 million to $470 million, with the possibility of a further reduction in cost.
Net present value (NPV) of the project after the deduction of taxes, on the other hand was almost doubled, from $351 million to $615 million (with a discount rate of 8% and a gold price of $1,250). The internal rate of return (IRR) rose from 15% to 25%.
Average all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of gold production is forecast at $605 per ounce, in comparison with the previous estimate it was lowered by 5%.
The operational parameters of the project still remained unchanged: it is expected that on average after reaching full productivity at Chaarat, 211,000 ounces of gold a year will be produced. The field's reserves amount to 4.7 million ounces of gold with an average content of 2.69 grams per tonne.
The Chaarat gold field is the flagship asset of Chaarat Gold Holdings, which has assets in Kyrgyzstan. Chaarat's shares are traded on the AIM of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The cofounder of Brunswick Group, Martin Andersson, holds a 25.2% stake in Chaarat Gold through Labro Investments Limited (as at September 23, 2015). The second largest shareholder of Chaarat Gold was China Nonferrous Metals International Mining with an 8.23% stake. British First State Stewart owns 7.23%. In addition, Chaarat Gold CEO Dekel Golan owns 5.16% of shares and the company's executive director, Alexander Novak, holds 3.92%.
