No nasty surprises for Chaarat Gold
Good intercepts, good depths and distances gives Chaarat Gold the ability to extend life of mine at Tulkubash
The chief operating officer of Chaarat Gold is a pragmatist and this is a key strength when you’re the COO of a mining company. You don’t want surprises because in your sector they typically have negative connotations.
Darin Cooper was therefore delighted the recently ended 2021 drilling campaign at Tulkubash had no surprises, and in his understated lexicon he described it as yielding good results. “We knew where to drill. It was positive confirmation from all the drill holes that we did and it’s proving out the wide area potential of this licence area for us.”
To borrow a Thunberg phrase that might sound “Blah bah blah,” but the purpose of the recent drilling campaign was to see if the company, with assets in Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, could extend the life of mine at the Tulkubash gold asset in Kyrgyzstan.
That sounds a possibility, but Cooper deals with tangibles and what he can put on the record affirmatively is: “We probably had our best drilling season as far as efficiencies and performances that we’ve ever had.” He talks about the organisation getting to grips with terrain and talent interns of contractors.
It’s cold at Tulkubash. Minus 40 degrees celsius is not unheard of, but drilling will continue if funds are found. The upcoming departure of current Chief Financial Officer Chris Eger may have been one of the surprises Cooper wasn’t expecting, but he’s pragmatic about that too. “The one positive that we have around our funding is that it is a team effort. It’s not one individual. There are many individuals pushing and working on the funding at any one time.”
He’s keen to point out the business and investment climate remains very positive in this ‘Presidential democracy.’ More elections are on the horizon in Kyrgyzstan, and Cooper cites the country as being one that hasn’t flourished as rapidly as other Former Soviet Union territories. The current president, however, is determined to get maximum growth for the country and that includes Chaarat’s enterprise which is heavily invested in creating returns for the community and shareholders alike.
Listen to Darin speak to Sarah Lowther about timelines for resource updates and anticipated first gold pours.
Watch the progress Chaarat is making at its open pit mine
Follow the company on Twitter – @ChaaratG
Read the most recent corporate presentation
The author was remunerated but does not hold shares in the company
