JAPANESE COMPANIES SUBMIT PROPOSAL TO FINANCE AND CONSTRUCT NEW COPPER MINE FOR
INDOCHINA GOLDFIELDS JOINT VENTURE
SINGAPORE, June 18 /CNW/ - Robert M. Friedland, Chairman, and R. Edward
Flood, President, announced today that Indochina Goldfields Ltd. has
negotiated a definitive proposal from two of the largest Japanese trading
companies to finance and build the first phase of the planned Monywa copper
mine complex in north-central Myanmar.
The proposal, which is subject to acceptance by the board of the Monywa
joint venture, includes:
- A US$90 million loan to finance construction of the project's first
phase.
- A $77 million lump-sum engineering procurement and construction
contract.
- A long-term sales agreement covering copper cathode to be produced
during the first 10 years of operation.
Indochina Goldfields has delivered the binding proposal for project
financing and construction to its 50% joint venture partner, Mining Enterprise
No. 1. This fulfills one of Indochina Goldfields' primary obligations to the
joint venture.
``The opportunity to play a founding role in the launch of a world-class,
low-cost, solvent extraction-electrowinning copper mine in Asia is a major
step in Indochina Goldfields' evolution from developer to producer,'' Mr.
Flood said, ``The Monywa copper project now has the financing commitment it
needs to put the mine into production, on schedule, within 12 months of the
start of construction.''
The board of the Monywa joint venture will decide within 60 days on the
acceptance of the Japanese financing and construction proposal.
The joint venture has been operating a solvent extraction-electrowinning
(SX-EW) copper pilot plant at the site of the proposed mine for nearly two
years. A bankable feasibility study conducted by Minproc Engineers of Perth,
Australia, and detailed engineering completed by CMPS&F of Brisbane,
Australia, have confirmed that the Monywa ore is ideally suited to
heap-leaching and SX-EW treatment, eliminating the need for an on-site mill or
smelter.
Mr. Flood said the company plans to achieve Phase I production, based on
the Sabetaung-Kyisintaung deposit, of 25,000 tonnes (55 million pounds) of
highly refined (99.999%-pure) copper cathode a year in 1999 at a cash
operating cost of approximately 48 cents (US) a pound. Production plans are
based on reserves sufficient to support mining at planned rates for more than
20 years.
In addition, Minproc has completed a separate feasibility study on the
adjacent 480-million-tonne Letpadaung copper orebody, which the joint venture
is planning to mine in Phase II of the Monywa project. Production from
Letpadaung is projected at 63,500 tonnes (140 million pounds) of highly
refined copper cathode a year, which would give Monywa combined annual
production from Phases I and II of 88,500 tonnes (195 million pounds). The
cash operating cost for copper from the larger Letpadaung deposit is estimated
to be about 43 cents a pound.
The company's portfolio of other assets includes gold and copper
properties and other interests in Indonesia, Kazakstan, South Korea, Vietnam
and Fiji. The company's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and on the
Australian Stock Exchange under the symbol ING.
Information about the company and its projects is available on its Web
site, goldfields.com.
-30-
For further information: R. Edward Flood, President (604) 688-5755 (North America) |
