Eurasia Mining plc (AIM: EUA)
("Eurasia" or the "Company")
Monchetundra mine permit update: resolution issued by Rosnedra
Eurasia, the London listed platinum group metals and gold producer, is pleased to announce an update regarding the application for a mining permit at the Monchetundra Project on Kola Peninsula, submitted late 2017.
A review of the Monchetundra mining permit application has been completed by the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) and all relevant divisions within Rosnedra. The official draft Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation for the mining permit has been forwarded by RosNedra to the Ministry for Defence (MOD) and the Federal Security Service (FSB) for their approval.
Highlights:
- Rosnedra has approved a draft of the mining permit and has forwarded the relevant documentation to MOD and FSB.
- Once the mining permit is approved early stage operations can commence at Monchetundra.
- Mining permit application progressing considerably quicker than the company expected.
Christian Schaffalitzky, Executive Chairman at Eurasia commented "We are very pleased with this result and the efficiency of the officials at Rosnedra in processing this application. The experience of our staff in Russia, gained from successfully processing a similar mining permit for our West Kytlim Project has proven invaluable. We look forward to providing further positive news in due course."
The application has now progressed from Rosnedra, who manage the entire mine permitting process, to the MOD and FSB.
Background to the project:
Monchetundra is a major Platinum Group Metals ('PGM') and base metals project with state approved reserves plus resources of 2 million ounces of palladium equivalent of PGM with additional base metal and gold credits. A discovery certificate, guaranteeing mining rights was issued to the company in July of 2017. The mining permit application was finalised in Q4 of last year and submitted to Rosnedra (See RNS dated 05 December 2017).
As previously announced, state approved reserves and resources within the Monchetundra Project comprise Russian standard C1 and C2 categories of 55.9 tonnes (about 2 million ounces) palladium equivalent (predominantly palladium) at two open-pittable locations, West Nittis and Loipishnune. These open pits also contain significant gold and base metal credits including 28,124 tonnes of copper and 30,410 tonnes of nickel. The full Reserves and Resource Statement is set out in the announcement dated 31 May 2017.
To note, for the purposes of correlating the scale of this deposit to other international platinum group minerals and base metal mines, the total in-situ metal value of these Reserves and Resources, before metal recoveries and all costs, is calculated as 2.1 billion USD at today's (Jan 31 2018) metal prices. However, there can be no guarantee that this figure will be achieved by Eurasia
For more information please see our website at; www.https://www.eurasiamining.co.uk/operations/monchetundra
Engineering Procurement Construction and Financing (EPCF) Contract
An EPCF contract to develop the mine at Monchetundra is already in place with Sinosteel, a state owned Chinese corporation focused on mining, and was agreed in October of 2016 (see RNS dated 10 October 2016. The contract provides for Sinosteel to undertake the mine and processing plant construction and commissioning on a turnkey, commercial arms-length basis. 85 per cent (or US$149,600,000) of the contract value has been arranged as debt-based by Sinosteel with this element of plant construction costs to remain on the Sinosteel balance sheet until such time as the plant is operating at full capacity and to designed specification.
Discussions continue with other third-party service providers regarding the running of the mine at Monchetundra. The company hopes to emulate the contract mining arrangement utilised at West Kytlim by contracting the mining operation to a reputable international specialist company with experience in Russia, while maintaining control of the project for a percentage of gross revenue.
Consent for release
Christian Schaffalitzky, FIMMM, PGeo, CEng, is a director of the Company. He has reviewed the update and consents to the inclusion of the exploration information in the form and context in which it appears here. He is a Competent Person for the purposes of the reporting of these results.
This announcement includes inside information as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014 and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of those Regulations.
Enquiries:
Eurasia Mining Plc
Christian Schaffalitzky/Keith Byrne
+44 (0)207 932 0418
WH Ireland Limited
Katy Mitchell
James Sinclair-Ford
+44 (0)161 832 2174
Beaufort Securities
Elliot Hance
+44 (0)207 382 8300
