LONDON (Alliance News) - Aurasian Minerals Tuesday said it has withdrawn the applications it made for three exploration permits in Myanmar and has decided to cease looking for assets in the region due to the slow approvals process and the company's need to focus on opportunities with a nearer-term prospect of creating value.
Aurasian Minerals announced in June that it was seeking mining assets in Myanmar and that it had lodged applications for three exploration permits totalling 1,900 square kilometres. On Tuesday, it said that it has taken the decision to withdraw the applications following the recommendation of its consultants operating in South-East Asia.
The company said it is continuing to focus on Laos as an area of potential interest and is working with its joint venture partner Sahamit Phattana with a view to undertaking exploration and mineral development activities there. Aurasian and Sahamit have identified a target area which they are attempting to acquire the rights to, but there are several challenges to overcome, the company said, including negotiations with the existing licence holders, while the timing and outcome are uncertain.
Aurasian added that it has also identified West Africa as an additional area of interest, saying that it plans to focus initially on Burkina Faso.
"With the downturn in commodity prices many new exciting regions and opportunities are opening up for the acquisition gold and copper projects. The last time this happened was in the period 2000 to 2004. Board members of Aurasian were then involved in a number of companies including Aquiline Resources, Laramide Resources, and Lydian Resources, that took advantage of that downturn, and the companies had strong results following the upturn of commodity prices from 2004 until 2011," Chief Executive Peter Mullens said in a statement.
"Mining and exploration is a cyclical game and we believe that there is value to be achieved from buying at the bottom of the market. Aurasian is building a data base, looking for quality acquisitions and will continue to do this during the downturn," he added.
Shares in Aurasian were untraded on Tuesday, last trading at 0.650 pence.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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