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(Alliance News) - Centamin PLC said Wednesday it has awarded an contract for waste stripping in the open pit at the Sukari gold mine in Egypt to fellow London-listing Capital Ltd.
Capital said the new open pit waste mining services contract, together with the extension and expansion of an existing drilling contract at Sukari, will bring USD235 million to USD260 million in incremental revenue over the four years starting January 1.
Capital said the Centamin deals represent the largest new business award in its history.
In order to fulfil its obligations under the two contracts, Capital announced a share placing at 58 pence per share to raise GBP22 million.
Capital shares were up 6.4% at 67.00p early Wednesday in London, while Centamin's FTSE 250-listed shares were down 3.5% at 115.52p.
A general meeting of Capital shareholders will be called for on or around December 21 to approve the new contract and the placing.
Centamin called Capital a trusted contractor and said that introducing contract-mining at Sukari is cost and time-effective. The contract announcement came as Centamin set out a three-year mining schedule for Sukari at a capital markets event on Wednesday.
Centamin said the plan positions Sukari to reliably produce 450,000 to 500,000 ounces of gold per year at all-in sustaining costs below USD900 per ounce sold from 2024.
The Egyptian miner also set out a commitment to shareholder returns of at least USD100 million in total dividends for each of the financial years 2020 and 2021.
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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