Tag Archives: metals and mining

Lydian says Armenian government still blocking its plans

NOV. 5 (The Bulletin) — Lydian International, the Colorado-based mining company, has complained that ministers in Armenia are trying to block it from exploiting the Amular mine in the south of the country once again. It said that a minister has thrown out plans it had put forward on just how much water it planned to take out of the Darb river. Work was stopped at the mine in June 2018 because of various environmental complaints but in October officials greenlighted the project.

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— This story was first published in issue 428 of the weekly Bulletin.

Kyrgyz villagers clash with Chinese miners

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Aug. 5 (The Bulletin) — Residents of a Kyrgyz village clashed with Chinese workers at a nearby Chinese-owned gold mine in the east of the country. Reports said that at least 20 people were injured in the fighting. Tension between the gold mine and locals has been rising since the start of July after the death of villagers’ livestock. Farmers blamed the gold mine for polluting the environment. Anti-China sentiment, though, is growing in Kyrgyzstan.
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— This story was first published in issue 418 of the weekly Bulletin

ArcelorMittal says it had “operational issues” at its Temirtau steel plant in Kazakhstan

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FEB. 7 (The Conway Bulletin) — Luxembourg-registered metals producer ArcelorMittal said that output dropped in Q4 2018 compared to Q4 2017 because of “operational issues” at its Temirtau plant in central Kazakhstan. The Temirtau plant is one of the country’s largest non-oil and gas projects and is a cornerstone of the Kazakh economy. ArcelorMittal has clashed with labour unions over pay, redundancies and holidays at its plant over the past few years. It also said that a pipeline explosion had slowed production.
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>This story was first published in issue 399 of The Conway Bulletin on Feb. 8 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019

Anglo Asian Mining drops 2019 output forecast

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FEB. 7 (The Conway Bulletin) — Anglo Asian Mining, the Azerbaijan-focused gold miner, said it expected gold output to fall to 65,000-67,500 ounces in 2019, down from 72,798 ounces in 2018. The announcement immediately triggered a fall in the price of Anglo Asian Mining’s share on the London Stock Exchange. It had been one of the top performers in 2018. >>See Markets on page 8 for more
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>This story was first published in issue 399 of The Conway Bulletin on Feb. 8 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019

KAZ Minerals reports higher production

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JAN. 24 (The Conway Bulletin) — KAZ Minerals, the Kazakhstan-focused London-listed copper producer, announced results that showed production that was 294 kilotons of copper, 17% higher in 2018 than in 2017, pushing up its share price. The production figure was at the top end of guidance previously given by the company.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019

Uzbekistan to privatise state gold producer

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JAN. 22 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree that should lead to the privatisation of the country’s main gold producer the Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company (NMMC). The decree said that NMMC should be privatised by December 2019. NMMC and Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Company (AMMC) produce an estimated 80% of Uzbekistan’s gold.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019

Kyrgyzstan extends Kumtor agreement with Centerra Gold

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JAN. 29 (The Conway Bulletin) — Centerra Gold, the Toronto-listed company that owns the Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan, said that the Kyrgyz government had asked it to extend an agreement first hammered out in September 2017 by four months to the end of May 2019. The agreement essentially secures Centerra Gold’s ownership over the mine. Kumtor has been the focus of a long-running row between Centerra and Kyrgyzstan, which is a shareholder in Centerra. Last year, a rival AIM-listed British gold company also put forward a bid for Kumtor.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019

Ango Asian posts weaker Q4

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LONDON/JAN.15 (The Conway Bulletin) — – Azerbaijan-based gold producer Anglo Asian, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, posted weak fourth quarter results but said that its overall performance in 2018 had been good.

Output in the three months to the end of December fell to 21,945 ounces of gold equivalent compared to 23,185 ounces in the same period in 2017 and dented what had been a spectacular year.

In September, Anglo Asian’s share price began to rise from 42.5p after the first of a series of positive trading updates and an inaugural dividend announcement.

By Dec. 4 it had peaked at 95.5p. It lost 5% after Tuesday’s announcement that Q4 had been worse than expected, triggering a drop of 5%.

Even so, total production in 2018 rose to 83,736 ounces, up 17% from 2017. This was at the top end of its guidance range.

In his commentary, Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri concentrated on the full year results.

“In addition to increasing production from the previous year, Anglo Asian has also significantly strengthened its balance sheet and paid a maiden dividend, all of which has bolstered Anglo Asian’s value and investment profile,” he said.

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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019

Lydian’s creditors lend support in row with Armenian government

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DEC. 24 (The Conway Bulletin) — Lydian International, the Colorado-based miner, said its three main creditors had agreed to suspend debt repayments until it had revolved a dispute in Armenia that has blocked access to the Amulsar gold mine that it is developing. Orion, Resource Capital Fund and Osisko Bermuda have also made available an extra $18.56m to finance the company during this period. In December, Lydian appealed against a block on construction work at Amulsar, imposed because of the discovery of endangered birds.
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>>This story was first published in issue 396 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 11 2019

Anglo Asian shares soar after trading update

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OCT. 3 (The Conway Bulletin) – London-listed gold miner Anglo Asian Mining said gold output had risen by 47% in July-Sept. compared to 2017, immediately pushing up its share price by 12% to an all-time high of 74.5p.

The announcement followed a dividend for shareholders for the first time in September and guidance that gold output would be at the higher end of expectations. Since the start of September, Anglo Asian’s share price has risen by 76%.

CEO Reza Vaziri said: “Given the strong production in the year so far, I am expecting production for the full year to be at the upper end of our guidance.”

Anglo Asian’s operations are focused in Azerbaijan. In Q3 2018, it produced 21,318 ounces of gold compared to 14,684 ounces in Q3 2017.

Anglo Asian has been able to exploit its main Gedabek mine more quickly than anticipated and it also announced an increase in reserves at the mine.

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>>This story was first published in issue 388 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 17 2018