Production starts at new mine

19 Sep 2005 07:02

Oxus Gold PLC19 September 2005 news release For release at 07.00 hours, 19 September 2005 Oxus starts up second gold mine Ore production begins at the Vysokovoltnoye Heap Leach Project LONDON: 19 September 2005 - Oxus Gold plc is pleased to report that it hasstarted production at its second mine in Uzbekistan. Mining of ore started at the Vysokovoltnoye gold and silver mine two weeks ago,following the first mine blast on 24 August. Ore will initially be stockpiledpending completion of construction and commissioning of the process plant. Theplant is expected to produce its first silver and gold at the beginning ofOctober 2005. Vysokovoltnoye has mineable reserves of 1.66 million tonnes at grades of 127g/tAg and 1.13g/t Au for ore body number 7 and 2.33 million tonnes at grades of 27g/t Ag and 1.24g/t Au for ore body number 4. Ongoing work aimed at definingextensions of the zones may increase the resource base for future growth. Both ore bodies have very low stripping ratios. Full production, aftercommissioning is scheduled for November 2005. Planned mine production is 21,035ounces of gold and 2,469,083 oz of silver per annum. The capital cost of the project is $9.1 million, which has been kept to aminimum due to the existing infrastructure at AGF. It is expected that the cashcosts of metal production in terms of gold equivalent will be approximately $160per ounce. Vysokovoltnoye is an open pit mine and forms part of the Amantaytau Goldfields'(AGF) licence area and is 30 kms away from AGF's existing Amantaytau miningoperations, Oxus's first mine in Uzbekistan. AGF is owned jointly by Oxus andthe Uzbekistan Government. Mr Bill Trew, chief executive of Oxus, said today: "Bringing our second mine inUzbekistan into production on time and within budget is a notable achievementand I should like to congratulate all those involved. We are now moving forwardwith our strategy of developing five mines in five years". End Enquiries: Bill Trew, CEO Oxus Gold: Tel: +44 (0)20 7907 2000Keith Irons, Bankside: Tel: +44 (0)20 7444 4155 / 07885 356 639 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange