The jewel in the crown for Chaarat Gold
“…This is a very easy project. It’s an open cut oxide heap leach project and will enable us to very easily extract gold from this resource…”
Even before the results of the 2021 drilling programme at the Tulkubash gold project were released, Chaarat Gold was describing the undeveloped project in the Kyrgyz Republic as the jewel in its crown.
May’s investor announcement confirms that with estimates of a six year life for this heap leach open pit with 647, 000 ounces of contained gold.
Chief executive Mike Fraser says if the financing for Tulkubash is secured by the end of this year, then “there should be no reason why we can’t still be aiming for the back end of 2024 for first gold.”
Conversations with financiers are much more palatable with the publication of the results that suggest there is more to come. “We’ll continue to do infill drilling,” says Fraser who is confident there is the potential to add more ounces and extend the life of the project particularly as only about 5 kms of a prospective 24 km trend has been ‘systematically’ drilled.
“This is a very easy project. It’s an open cut oxide heap leach project and will enable us to very easily extract gold from this resource.”
It’s a bitter sweet time for the company particularly as there has been a fatality at the company’s Kapan Mine in Armenia which Fraser is very upset about.
“We need to look at ourselves in the mirror and say to ourselves how did we allow some of our key controls to be bypassed and for this event to occur. We let our colleague down and his family and friends down by not allowing him to come home safely at the end of his shift.”
Listen to Mike talk to Sarah Lowther about the potential of Tulkubash and why gold has an important place in a portfolio.
Watch Mining Journal editor Tom Hoskyns speaking to Mike about progressing the Tulkubash project.
Mike joins COO Darin Cooper and interim CFO David Mackenzie to discuss the FY 2021 results on the Investor Meet platform
View the company’s corporate presentation from May 2022
Follow the company on Twitter @ChaaratG
The author was remunerated but does not hold shares in the company
