Eastern Promise
Centerra Seeks Gold From Turkey to Mongolia
By Ted Niles
Gold has long lured adventurers to uncharted territories. But while the trades are full of stories about Africa, Centerra Gold Inc TSX:CG demonstrates the potential of Asia. In the Kyrgyz Republic on China’s western border, the company’s Kumtor Mine prepares to add an underground operation to its open-pit gold producer. Its Mongolian operations include a mill working its way through years of stockpiled ore and a new gold mine waiting for final approval. Then there are the JVs spread as far afield as Turkey, China and eastern Russia and even Nevada.
“There are a couple of other, small-scale operations in the Kyrgyz Republic, but we’re probably 95% of the gold production in that country and about 45% to 50% of the country’s industrial output,” says Centerra President/CEO Steve Lang. “There, like Mongolia, we’re 100% owners. When we step out into Russia, Turkey and China, we move into joint ventures. Overall, there’s a lot of gold in Asia but not much competition.”
Read the rest of this article.
|
