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Eastern Mediterranean excellence
There have been very few positives to be
taken from the global financial crisis but
EMED Mining Public Ltd is benefiting from
one of them. With investment scarce, and
job opportunities dwindling during the past
three years, the Cyprus-based company has witnessed
a significant improvement in European encouragement
of mining. This stakeholder support has extended from
governments and the regulatory authorities through to
public sentiment.
EMED’s managing director, Harry Anagnostaras-
Adams, admitted that the GFC, together with last year’s
‘Arab Spring’ uprising and the current Euro crisis, have
had a “high impact” on the company’s activities but that
this has been “mostly for the better”.
Mr Adams told Mining Journal that, over the past few
decades, Europe had “fallen out of love with mining”,
and he sees one of his roles as being to help overcome
an inherent mistrust of the sector.
Fortunately, there has been a recent rediscovery of
the importance of natural resources. With well-paid
employment at a premium, people are now much more
amenable towards the industry.
Regional role
EMED, which is listed on AIM in London (code: EMED)
and on the Toronto Stock Exchange (code: EMD), has
interests that span across Europe and the Middle East.
The company’s mission is to be “at the forefront of
mining in this part of the world”, and Mr Adams said its
principal activity is “to explore responsibly for, and
develop, natural resources, with a particular focus on
copper and gold”.
These assets include many past centres of mining
but also under-explored areas hosting many types of
mineralisation, including volcanogenic-hosted massive
sulphide copper-gold deposits, epithermal gold and
porphyry copper-gold.
Despite a clutch of properties, EMED is focused on
two key projects (in Spain and Slovakia) that Mr Adams
believes hold “the greatest potential to add major
value”. In Spain, EMED now owns 100% of the historic
Rio Tinto copper mine, and associated processing
infrastructure. This, said Mr Adams, is “an exceptional
opportunity for EMED to start producing copper with a
relatively fast start-up programme and low up-front
capital costs”.
In central Slovakia, EMED has 100% ownership of
the Detva gold project, which includes the “very
encouraging” Biely Vrch gold discovery. A scoping
study earmarked a 60,000oz/y gold mine, and EMED is
also actively exploring within the large surrounding
licence area.
In addition, EMED owns 18% of AIM-listed KEFI
Minerals plc, which is primarily exploring for gold and
copper in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in Turkey.
Company profile
Strategic targets
Formed in 2005 by Australian mining-industry
specialists, EMED has a corporate base in Cyprus (the
site of its first project), which is geographically central
to the corporate area of interest in Europe and the
Middle East. Other than a small corporate governance,
compliance and treasury team in Cyprus, operational
personnel are all based at the project sites.
The group’s interests focus on the Mesozoic to
Tertiary age tectonic belt that extends for over 3,000km.
EMED’s strategy, said Mr Adams, is “rapidly to evaluate
exploration opportunities in several jurisdictions
throughout this quality mineral belt with a relatively
high rate of project turnover”.
The company has a strong commitment to
responsible development of metal production
operations in Europe. Indeed the company (whose
name is actually derived from the original moniker of
Eastern Mediterranean Resources) now promotes its
acronym as the descriptive Excellence in Mining,
Exploration and Development.
To this end, the team includes specialists from the
Americas, Cyprus, Slovakia and Spain, with most of the
personnel based in Spain. Group technical services and
operational headquarters is at Rio Tinto mine located
adjacent to the town Minas de Riotinto (literally “the
mines of Riotinto”) in Andalucia.
EMED’s regional strategy has not changed since the
company listed on AIM in May 2005:
• Focus on demonstrably well-endowed areas, and
apply modern exploration techniques;
• Use relationships in the region to provide a high level
of technical, political and other expertise;
• Demonstrate a commitment to the region by being
headquartered in Cyprus, and establishing offices near
the geographic centre of each prospect; and
• Integrate the practical experience gained in the
world’s leading metal-producing countries with local
expertise in each country where EMED is active.
Mr Adams notes that this strategy has been
successfully implemented, with the company now
enjoying first-mover advantage in the region. “We have
established”, he stressed, “a position of prominence for
the industry in Spain, Slovakia and Cyprus”.
Spanish developments
In May 2007, EMED was granted an option to acquire
the Rio Tinto copper mine (Proyecto de Rio Tinto),
which was previously operated by RTZ (now Rio Tinto) an
subsequently by a workers’ co-operative. The main assets
are the mine and plant site adjacent to the town of Rio
Tinto, 65km northwest of Seville in Andalucia. The mine
was placed on care and maintenance in 2000 due to
then-prevailing low copper prices (of below US$1.00/lb).
The asset is held through wholly-owned EMED
Tartessus SL, which has undertaken extensive studies
on the mine (independently reviewed by AMC
Consultants and Behre Dolbear International).
Measured and indicated mineral resources total
203.1Mt at 0.46% Cu (0.93Mt of contained copper), with