August 12, 1997
INDOCHINA GOLDFIELDS' JOINT VENTURE
AWARDS CONTRACTS TO FINANCE AND
CONSTRUCT MYANMAR COPPER MINE
SINGAPORE - R. Edward Flood, President, and Robert M. Friedland,
Chairman, announced today that Indochina Goldfields Ltd. and its joint
venture partner have awarded contracts to provide financing, construction
and copper marketing for the first phase of mining and production at the
Monywa copper complex in north-central Myanmar.
The contracts were awarded to a syndicate of the Japanese trading houses,
Marubeni Corporation and Nissho Iwai Corporation, as well as Chiyoda
Corporation, a leading Japanese engineering construction company.
The syndicate of Japanese trading houses, headed by Marubeni, will
provide a US$90 million project loan to finance construction of the mine's
first phase. The project loan will be used, in part, to pay a US$78 million
lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction contract that the joint
venture has awarded to a consortium of Chiyoda and Marubeni. The
consortium, in accepting responsibility for the construction and
commissioning, will provide completion and performance guarantees
regarding the start date, plant capacity and quality of the copper cathode to
be produced at the complex.
Marubeni also has been awarded a long-term sales agreement covering
copper cathode to be produced during the first seven years of operation.
Indochina Goldfields, which has already committed US$28 million in
equity financing to the project, is developing Monywa with its 50% joint
venture partner, Mining Enterprise No. 1. The joint venture's board and the
Myanmar government's ministries of investment and finance have
approved the financing, construction and marketing contracts.
"The opportunity to finance Monywa attracted some of the world's trading
heavyweights, which astutely recognized the project's promise," Mr.
Flood said. "We were impressed by the enthusiasm shown by all
interested participants and we expect even broader interest as we formally
seek proposals to finance the Phase II expansion."
Mr. Friedland said the agreements with the Japanese trading companies
are a landmark development for Indochina Goldfields. "The Phase I
contracts that will bring Monywa on stream assure Indochina Goldfields'
evolution from a venture capital concept and an explorer into an
international producer with a world-scale mine that is close to major
Asian centres of consumption."
Construction has already started on the Phase I heap-leach, solvent
extraction-electrowinning plant at Monywa. The mine complex is
scheduled to be producing copper cathode in nine months. Phase I will be
in full commercial production, at a rate of 25,000 tonnes a year, by the end
of 1998.
Indochina Goldfields has already initiated preliminary discussions to
secure project financing and construction for the Phase II expansion of
Monywa, which will involve development of the adjacent Letpadaung ore
body. Letpadaung is expected to produce an additional 63,500 tonnes of
copper cathode a year, giving Monywa a combined annual production
from Phases I & II of 88,500 tonnes (195 million pounds). A bankable
feasibility study of Phase II, recently completed by Minproc Engineers of
Perth, Australia, forecast a cash operating cost of approximately 43 cents
(US) a pound, requiring initial capital, development and commissioning
costs and working capital of approximately US$300 million.
Indochina Goldfields' other assets include gold and copper properties and
various mineral interests in Indonesia, Kazakstan, South Korea, Vietnam
and Fiji. The company's shares trade on the Toronto and Australian stock
exchanges under the symbol ING. Information about the company and its
projects is available on its Web site, goldfields.com.
For further information, please contact:
R. Edward Flood, President
North America 604 688-5755 |
