DEC. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko flew into Ashgabat for talks with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berymukhamedov on how to develop bilateral relations next year. Belarusian companies are involved in mining and fertiliser production in Turkmenistan. Mr Lukashenko was returning from Vietnam.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh miner KAZ Minerals said it had produced its first copper from the Aktogay project in east Kazakhstan. KAZ Minerals,previously known as Kazakhmys, forecast that the Aktogay project will produce 15,000 tonnes of copper/year over the next decade.
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(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)
DEC. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Oil prices fell by 2.3% to $43/barrel of Brent crude this week.
Tethys Petroleum shares jumped 15% in one day on Dec. 2 to 4.88p, but fell later in the week to close at 4.50p on Friday, a 5.9% increase over the last week.
Roxi Petroleum shares fell sharply to 7p on Friday, down 10% from last week.
Gold prices rose by 2.7% this week to $1,086/ounce, which, together with positive industrial news, propped up the region’s principal gold miners.
Kyrgyzstan-focused miner Centerra Gold gained around 6% this week on the Toronto Stock Exchange, closing at 7.61 Canadian dollars on Friday.
After announcing a new financing deal for its gold deposit in Armenia, Toronto-listed gold miner Lydian International shares gained 30% in just two days. Lydian share price then fell back to 0.27 Canadian dollars on Friday.
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(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)
DEC. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Toronto-listed miner Lydian International said it had reached a $325m financing agreement to develop a gold mine in Armenia, an initiative that will boost the country’s gold output.
In a detailed statement, the company said it will receive a line of funding from US-based investment firms Orion Mine Finance and Resource Capital Funds. The money will be used to start construction at the Amulsar gold project in south- central Armenia.
Once preparation work is completed next year according to the company, Lydian forecasts a production rate of around 6 tonnes of gold per year from the Amulsar project. For a comparison, Armenia produced 3.5 tonnes of gold in 2013.
Lydian has been working on financing the project since 2006.
A fall in gold prices, down around 13% year-on-year on Dec. 1 at $1,069/ounce – a 5-year low, has put pressure on mining companies with operations in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
Lydian’s CEO Howard Stevenson said the agreement with Orion and RCF was a major step forward, especially considering the current financial markets.
“The Financing provides over 75% of the overall financing requirement, which is a strong achievement in the current financial market,” Mr Stevenson said in a company statement
Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan also said the government was pleased Lydian had won backing for the project.
“The financing of the construction of the Amulsar Mine represents a significant step forward in the development of the mining industry in Armenia,” Mr Abrahamyan said in a statement.
Gold is an important cash earner for the Armenian government but although potentially lucrative for the state, the project has angered people who worry about the environmental degradation. In 2014, police dispersed a large crowd of protesters around the mine.
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(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)
DEC. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Toronto-listed Lydian International said it had secured the $325m finance needed to exploit a major gold deposit in Armenia. The deposit at Amulsar could transform Armenia’s economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)
NOV. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Copper producer Central Asia Metals said it received government approval for the expansion of its Kounrad project in central Kazakhstan. The company said construction works will start in March 2016 and the expansion will cost $19.5m. Central Asia Metals also said it is set to meet its production target of 12,000 tonnes in 2015, which would represent a 7.7% increase compared to 2014.
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(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Without giving specific detail, Israfil Mammadov, the deputy executive director of Azerbaijan’s sovereign wealth fund Sofaz told Bloomberg News that the fund would be diversifying its investment portfolio next year. Sofaz has already diversified into real estate, gold and equities. Earlier this year, Sofaz bought a landmark shop on one of Tokyo’s most well-known retail streets.
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(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Oil producers suffered in the London stock market this week, due to mixed industrial announcements.
Tethys Petroleum shares lost 13% in one week closing at 4.25p on Friday. Nostrum Oil & Gas was on track to a similar fall after it lost 9% on Monday, recovering later in the week after it showed its investment plans for a new gas treatment facility. On Friday, Nostrum closed at 376p, down 3.5%. Roxi Petroleum shares closed at 7.75p on Friday, down 5% from last week.
Central Asia Metals lost 2.2% this week to close at 161.5p on Friday, while the other major miner in Kazakhstan, KAZ Minerals, gained 7.8% to 99.8p.
Newly-listed Georgia Healthcare Group lost around 2% this week to close at 177p on Friday.
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(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed Azerbaijani miner Anglo Asian Mining said it produced and shipped the first batch of copper concentrate from its Gedabek mine in the west of the country. Through the new copper flotation plant, inaugurated in October, the company aims to return to profitability, Reza Vaziri, the Anglo Asian’s CEO said in a statement. The market had a lukewarm reaction, and its share price in London remained at 5.13p.
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(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Canadian miner Centerra Gold said production and revenue at Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold mine, increased in the third quarter, countering continued low gold prices and giving the Kyrgyz economy a welcome boost.
Production grew to 3.2 tonnes of gold, up 9% from 2.9 tonnes in Q3 2014. This compared against relatively depressed gold prices meaning that Centerra’s revenues grew by 3%. Gold prices have fallen since the start of November by 6% to a six-year low of $34.37/gram.
In a statement on its website, Ian Atkinson, Centerra’s CEO, said: “Financially, the Company is in good shape with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $537m or
$461m, net of debt, at September 30, 2015.”
Importantly for Kyrgyzstan, Centerra’s tax contributions also rose. In the first nine months of 2015, Centerra paid $98.7m, a 20% increase compared to 2014.
Centerra is the largest taxpayer in Kyrgyzstan. Output at the Kumtor gold mine makes up 10% of GDP.
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(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)