Hello Brian. I am not sure if you are aware of Feller Mining news and in fact if this is the old news to you sorry. I was just reading their sample and found article from February of 1997 about Vasilkovskoye deposit and Placer and other mention companies:
This is the fragment:
KAZAKHASTANT ENDS TALKS ON VAILKOVSKOYE GOLD PROJECT
The government of Kazakhstan in January this year notified an international consortium
led by Teck Corp. of Canada that negotiations on a joint project to mine the
Vasilkovskoye gold lode are over. The Kazakh State Property Committee told Interfax
that the authorities have no short-term plans to continue talks with other western
companies interested in the Vasilkovskoye project. The search for a western investor
for the Vasilkovskoye project has been going on for two years. The Kazakh authorities
first officially decided to involve a western investor to mine what is the country's biggest
lode (in Kokchetav region, Northern Kazakhstan) with an estimated 382 tonnes of gold
on April 20, 1995. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev then signed a decree,
according to which he agreed with government proposals for a joint venture to mine
Vasilkovskoye with Canada's Placer Dome. It was believed that 50% of the venture,
which would mine, mill and refine the gold would belong to Kazakhstan, of which 45%
to the Vasilkovsky mining and milling complex and 5% to Marzhan, a local geological
outfit. The remaining interest would go to Placer Dome (which would own 55% of that
interest) and other foreign investors. The decree stated that a consortium of foreign
investors, led by Placer Dome, must pay the Kazakh government a bonus of $80 million
and invest $270 million in the "high-technology production of precious metals, and
environmental and social undertakings in the region of the goldfield." The first stage of
the Vasilkovskoye project entailed an open pit operation to a depth of 360 meters.
Local geologists estimated the future open pit would contain a resource of around 50
million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 2.9 g/t of gold, and a minimum grade of
1.5 g/t. Geologists identified another 30.8 million tonnes of ore, average grade 5.15 g/t,
below 360 meters. Placer Dome paid Kazakhstan $35 million towards the bonus and
planned to pay the remainder after a joint venture agreement was signed. However the
Canadian company later deduced that the profit margin from the Vasilkovskoye project
would be lower than expected after it had studied its own geological data. The
company in October 1995 assigned its rights to involvement in the project to Princess
Resources, a British company. Moreover Placer Dome sold its 27.5% interest in the
project to Princess Resources, which paid for the shares partly with cash and partly
with its own securities, as a result of which Placer Dome received a 38% stake in the
British company. Placer Dome entrusted Lonrho South Africa, a division of Britain's
Lonrho PLC, with day-to-day operations and responsibility for developing
Vasilkovskoye. Meanwhile, Placer Dome wanted the $35 million it had paid towards
the bonus back. It was believed the money would be repaid by the Canadian
company's successor. However Princess Resources refused to pay the bonus or to
fulfill many of the other provisions of the original contract signed with Placer Dome. The
parties were, as a result, unable to come to a final agreement and the Kazakh authorities
decided to call a tender to find new investors. More Disagreement. Bids for the
Vasilkovskoye investment tender, the results of which were announced in May last
year, were submitted by the TECK Corp. consortium, Cogema of France, World Wide
Minerals of Canada, Lonrho PLC and Kazakhstan's principal mining concern
Altynalmas. The TECK Corp. consortium, which also included Bakyrchik Gold PLC of
Britain and First Dynasty Mines Ltd., won. Kazakh Prime Minister Akezhan
Kazhegeldin on June 1 last year signed an order to award the consortium the exclusive
right to sign a contract with Kazakhstan on the development of Vasilkovskoye. It was
thought the contract would be signed by July 1, 1996, by which date TECK had
intended to round off negotiations with the Kazakh government on the terms of a
25-year Vasilkovskoye license. The consortium undertook to invest $360 million in the
project, of which $85 million as a bonus, and to increase output at the site from 360 kg
in 1995 to 17 tonnes annually in 1999. The Kazakhs also required that the tender
winner reimburse the $35 million paid by Placer Dome by July 1, 1996. The consortium
wanted an 80%-stake in a future joint venture and the right to export and sell the gold
outside Kazakhstan. However talks between the Kazakh government and TECK Corp.
dragged on, and the State Property Committee in the middle of August last year
announced it was stripping the consortium of the exclusive right to conduct negotiations
on the project with the Kazakh authorities and sent offers to the runners up in the tender
to participate in the Vasilkovskoye development. The official favorite, once TECK has
lost its leadership, turned out to be Lonrho PLC. However the consortium made an
effort to retain its position and officially confirmed it would do all it had promised to win
the tender in a letter last September to Sarybai Kalmurzayev, head of the State
Property Committee. TECK Corp. also sent a letter to Akezhan Kazhegeldin, the
prime minister, acknowledging that it had made mistakes at the early stages of
negotiations, and confirmed its interest in the Vasilkovskoye project. The consortium
also offered to pay the debt to Placer Dome very soon afterwards. Placer Dome, for its
part, had by then launched arbitration proceedings to recover its money, but said it
would end those proceedings as soon as talks between TECK Corp. and the Kazakh
government resumed.
Regards
R |
