RE: so1 Nov 2019 11:24
Eurasia's expansion efforts have taken several forms. In December last year, the company revealed that it had been granted an additional 71.1km2 exploration licence at the project. The ground is thought to have the potential to bolster West Kytlim’s resource base and life of mine considerably. Following this, in June, Eurasia announced that it had applied for another licence called Tipil in the West Kytlim area. Tipil contains around 17km of river course and sedimentary units that have been proven to host platinum group metal deposits. With Tipil covering 24.5km2, West Kytlim’s total project area will grow to 117km2 when Eurasia is granted the Tipil licence formally.
Eurasia has had its Definitive Feasibility Study approved for West Kytlim’s Kluchiki area – a revised reserves statement for this area has also been lodged with authorities and is due for approval imminently. Furthermore, the Company aims to upgrade the entire mine's existing reserves into the Russian C1 category through a single ‘aggressive’ drilling programme. This work is fully funded and is on track to be completed by the end of this year. A total of 2,600m of drilling is planned at the reserves occurring as separate areas within the broader West Kytlim deposit. The aggressive reserves upgrade program is part of a ‘phased mine development strategy’ to ensure sufficient mineable material for multiple washplants operating on site from 2020. The business has also made several process improvements to West Kytlim’s washplant aimed at increasing overall recovery of precious metals, and improving efficiencies.
Most recently, in September, Eurasia announced that it has acquired its own enrichment plant and some mining equipment from the operating free cash flow at West Kytlim. The firm will now produce from the asset on an owner-operator basis, meaning it is entitled to 100pc of revenues, up from 30-35pc. As a result, Schaffalitzky expects to see an ‘obvious concurrent increase’ in the project’s profit margin moving forward.