Volume 9 Edition 3 2012 - The ASIA Miner

Central AsiaExploration replaces mined Kumtor reservesCENTERRA Gold’s 2011 exploration programhas replaced reserves mined during the year atthe Kumtor Central Pit in the Kyrgyz Republic.An estimated 704,000 ounces were added toreserves, representing an increase of 11%, beforeaccounting for 2011 production.After accounting for pr ocessing of about709,000 ounces of contained gold in 2011,Kumtor’s proven and probable mineral reservesremained at 6.3 million ounces of containedgold as of December 31, 2011. All of theincrease in the Central Pit open pit reserves isa result of additional exploration drilling primarilyon the Southwest Extension of the SB Zone.This drilling continues to outline a new zoneof mineralization immediately to the northwestof the Southwest Extension of the SBThe Central Pit at Centerra Gold’s Kumtor Gold Project in the Kyrgyz Republic.Zone. The drilling has also increased the averagereserve grade for the Central Pit to 3.7grams/tonne gold, compar ed to 3.4grams/tonne in 2010.The company’s overall proven and probablereserves increased 694,000 contained ounces,before accounting for 2011 production,to 8.1 million ounces of contained gold, comparedto 8.2 million ounces as of December31, 2010. This represents an increase of 9%before accounting for 793,000 containedounces processed at Kumtor and Bor oo inMongolia during 2011.Centerra’s president and CEO Steve Langsays, “2011 was another successful explorationyear. We replaced reserves mined at Kumtor,generated initial resources at ATO and KaraBeldyr, and brought more than 2.4 million newounces of gold into r eserves plus resourcesand an additional 600,000 ounces of gold intoinferred resources at an average cost of lessthan $15 per ounce. We entered our first jointventure in China, added a second joint venturein Russia and our strong drill results at OrtacamNorth in Turkey should produce an initial r e-source statement by the end of 2012.”The company’s production forecast for2012 from Kumtor has been lower ed owingto increased ice movement in the southeastsection of the pit which has delayed scheduledaccess to the high grade SB zone. Thecompany says the build-up of ice and wastewas exacerbated by a 10-day stoppage inFebruary by striking labour ers at the mine.This is expected to delay the cutback fr omlate 2012 to late 2013, resulting in the deferralinto 2013-2015 of production from the highgrade SB zone otherwise expected in 2012.The company expects to partially mitigate theimpact of the movement and the resulting delayin cutback by accelerating mining in the southwestportion of the pit to access part of the newin September 2012 to provide higher grade ore.Preliminary engineering analysis indicates productionof 390,000 to 410,000 ounces of goldin 2012, rather than between 575,000 and625,000 ounces as previously forecast.Kumtor gold mine is one of the largest in centralAsia and is 350km southeast of Bishkek,the Kyrgyz capital. The operation includes aconventional open pit and carbon-in-leach mill.Gold extraction under way at DalabaiGOLD explorer and developer Central AsiaResources has started the process of extractinggold at its Dalabai project in Kazakhstan.The initial shipment of gold resin, which wassent to mining services company Dank inSemey, Kazakhstan, has been returned.Test work on the resin indicated it was loadedwith about 5879 grams of gold and followingtreatment the company immediatelyrecovered 5181 grams, or 181 ounces ofgold. Central Asia also received 165 ouncesof silver. A further 490 grams of gold and3044 grams of silver were due to be deliveredto the company in mid-April.The cathode gold produced from the resin isbeing stored at Central Asia’s bank in Almaty,the capital of Kazakhstan, and will remain thereuntil the company received an export permit tosell the gold. While the permitting pr ocess inKazakhstan is transparent, it is a lengthy pr o-cedure and the company is unsure when it willreceive the export permit.Central Asia’s next target is to deliver 6 tonnesof resin to the processing facility. On thebasis of the initial run, this equates to about30kg, or 1050 ounces, of gold.The company curr ently has about 80,000tonnes of ore stacked and leaching at Dalabai,which is about 50% of the leach pad’s targetedcapacity. The company continues to ramp upthe production rate towards its name-plate rate.In mid-March the company was leachinggold at a rate of about 25% of expected productionfor low-grade material during theramp up phase. Rates of circulation throughthe plant wer e at 28-30 cubic metr es perhour and return solution gold concentrationswere in the range of 1.5mg/litre.Central Asia chairman Guy W arwick saidthe Dalabai plant was performing above companyexpectations during the ramp up phase.“Operations to date show we have no leaksin the plant, something to fear in the cold weatherwhere materials have a tendency to becomebrittle and shatter if not tr eated withcare. Reaching our targets will not happenovernight but will result from incremental improvementsover the next six months.”18 | ASIA Miner | May/June 2012