Wednesday, March 13 2019 19:49

ArmInfo. And about.  Minister  of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia Garegin Baghramyan  discussed the details of the investment program for the development  of the Kapan mining and processing plant with Artem Volynets,  Director General of the gold mining company Chaarat Gold.  The  meeting was also attended by David Kovmasyan, General Director of  Kapansky GOK.

Recall that at the end of January this year, the former owner of the  Kapan GOK, Polymetal, announced the completion of the sale of its  Armenian asset Chaarat Gold for $ 55 million.

As the Ministry's press service told ArmInfo, welcoming the guests,  Baghramyan presented them with the mining legislation in force in the  country, as well as upcoming events in the framework of the  Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), of which  Armenia has been a full member since last year.

According to Artem Volynets, the decision to acquire a business in  Armenia was due to recent political changes and a favorable  investment environment.  The head of the company assured that one of  the company's priorities are to conduct mining operations on the  basis of the best international standards and ensuring transparency.   It is expected that the replacement of handmade with new technologies  will increase the productivity and safety of the mine.  The water use  system will operate in a closed loop without harming the environment.   The general director of Chaarat Gold noted that in the near future  the company will submit to the ministry adjustments that will be made  to the mining project and to the waste management plan.

Garegin Baghramyan, in turn, assured the leaders of the GOK that the  department was ready to support the implementation of the planned  programs.

We note that Polymetal acquired Kapan in 2016 for $ 38 million from  Canadian investors.  Reserves, production and EBITDA of the field   accounted for only 3% of Polymetal's overall performance.  According  to the company, production at the field for the 12 months ended  September 30, 2018 was 51,000 ounces of gold equivalent.

Until recently, Chaarat Gold was engaged in the exploration and  development of gold deposits only in Kyrgyzstan.  But within five  years, the company plans, through mergers and acquisitions, to  supplement assets in the CIS and Central Asia and achieve a  production level of 1 million ounces, and a resource base of 15-20  million ounces.

The largest shareholder in Chaarat Gold is its chairman, Martin  Anderson (35.5%).  The list of shareholders also includes China State  Nonferrous International Mining Co.  Ltd (CNIMC, 6.05%), Sarastro  Group Limited with BVI (4.74%), UBS (3.9%) and management (3.12%).   Since 2007, Chaarat shares are traded on the LSE site with a  capitalization of $ 114.6 million. Artem Volynets headed the company  in the summer of 2018, he is the former En + CEO, owned by Oleg  Deripaska.