cont.20 Feb 2009 15:29
..is not large, its very high grade gives it attractive economics. With a capital cost of US$74m and production costs of US$4.11 an ounce, the estimated NPV of the project is US$75.9m at a 10 per cent discount rate and using US$12.5 silver.
In the eyes of Ovoca, though, there is a lot more to this area than just zone 1. Rowan says that while the mill is initially designed for an annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes a year it will be built with scope for expansion. Power will come from the company’s own diesel generators, but there is the possibility of connecting to the mains supply providing the company is prepared to take the cost of building its own sub-station on the chin.
Having sorted out all the technical details the next stage is to seek bank debt. Ovoca’s capitalisation of £69m and 100 per cent ownership of the property places it a good position in these negotiations. A small placing in November raised £4.5m and a big chunk of those shares went to a company controlled by one Mikhail Mogutov, giving him a 17% per cent stake in Ovoca. Senior management is also Russian with Leonid Skopstov as Chief Executive Officer. The difficulties of mine development and production in Russia are well documented and having locals involved in the management and ownership of these operations seems to be the smart way to arrange matters. Few people know that better than Chairman Roger Turner who has accumulated a great deal of experience in the tricky business