LONDON (Alliance News) - Aureus Mining Inc Thursday said it now plans to engage in owner mining at its new Liberty Gold project in Liberia and has awarded MonuRent Ltd a contract to provide and maintain fleet at the site.
The gold-mining company, with operations in Liberia and Cameroon, said that following detailed evaluation and adjudication process, Aureus has decided to perform owner mining operations at New Liberty utilising a leased new mining fleet that is hired and fully maintained by MonuRent.
The company said MonuRent has provided a fleet over the past 18 months for the clearing, civil and earthworks at New Liberty during the construction and development phase under a separate contract, providing overall fleet availability to date of 92%.
Aureus said that MonuRent guarantees a minimum fleet availability of 85% and will assist with the training of local operators.
The company said that the costs for owner mining is less than that of contract mining and allows it to focus on its core strengths and activities in respect of the mine planning and scheduling, removing the responsibility and obligation to purchase and maintain the fleet over the life of the mine.
The miner said that final detailed scheduling is now in progress for production planning and New Liberty remains on track for first gold to pour in the first quarter 2015.
Aureus Mining shares were up 2.1% to 27.70 pence Thursday.
By Tom McIvor; tommcivor@alliancenews.com; @TomMcIvor1
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