30 January 2011
ASX / MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT
31 July 2015
June 2015 Quarterly Activities Report
Central Asia Resources (ASX: CVR) (the Company) is pleased to report on its activities on its gold projects in Kazakhstan, Central Asia for the Quarter ending 30 June 2015 (the Quarter).
HIGHLIGHTS
Heads of Agreement executed for the sale of Dalabai project
Altyn Tas licence renewed for further 3 years
OPERATIONS
Dalabai (90% owned)
As announced on 17th July 2015, a binding Heads of Agreement has been signed for the sale of the
Company's interest in the Dalabai project for consideration of ~A$6.9m. Please refer to the
'Corporate' section below.
The Dalabai Operation is located in the Chu Ili gold belt in southern Kazakhstan. Dalabai is located
2.5 hours' drive from Almaty, with a major highway to the project. Mining commenced in July 2014 but was halted in October 2014 due to delays with debt funding from Halyk Bank (as previously announced). During the Quarter, the Company's care and maintenance team at Dalabai was replaced by a Halyk Bank - funded team.
Under a court order from the Taldygordan Public Prosecutor, cathode gold from the December quarter (144 ounces gold and 1,126 ounces silver), was sold (at prices of US$1198/ounce gold and US$16.8/ounce silver) and net proceeds (US$190,000) disbursed to the Company's Dalabai employees for salaries owed.
All remaining Dalabai employees were made redundant at the end of May and three key Almaty employees are retained.
No safety incidents were reported for the quarter.
Altyntas, Kepken and Kengir gold projects (95% owned)
The Altyntas project is located 500km north-west of Almaty in the Tien Shen gold province in Kazakhstan. It contains the Altyn Tas, Kepken and Kengir prospects, all located within 40km of Altyntas and to be evaluated as part of a regional Altyntas strategy.
311-313 Hay St, Subiaco, Western Australia 6008 PO Box 8282, Subiaco, Western Australia 6008
P: +61 8 6489 0600 F: +61 8 9388 3701
ABN: 13 113 816 158
Quarterly Activities Report
June 2015
As announced on 28th May 2015, an application for a 3 year extension of term of the Altyn Tas exploration licence was formally granted by the Ministry of Investments and Development of Kazakhstan. Under an Amendment (registration number #4586) covering the Company's 90% owned Altyn Tas Exploration Licence 176, The Project is renewed until April 2018 and has an updated expenditure commitment of US$235,000 over this 3-year period. This allows the Company to move forward with exploration and development of the Altyn Tas, Kepken and Kengir deposits.
The Altyn Tas licence contains three gold deposits (Altyn Tas, Kepken and Kengir) with previously reported resources of 30 million tonnes at 1.2 grams/tonne gold containing 1.16 million ounces of gold. These resource estimates are subject to an updated estimate which is expected to report lower overall contained metal but with a higher degree of confidence. Development options include open pit mining of Altyn Tas and Kepkinwith a shared Carbon-in-Pulp ("CIP") process facility, or processing at the nearby CIP plant owned by the Altyn Almas company.
CORPORATE
Dalabai project sale
As announced on 17th July 2015, a binding Heads of Agreement was signed with Uroven OMR LLP, a private company registered in Kazakhstan, for the commercial sale of CVR's 90% interest in the Dalabai Gold Project. The sale is subject to certain conditions precedent.
As part of the purchase of Dalabai, the Buyer will assume all Dalabai related debts, including:
Dalabai debt, including bank debt as at 15th July 2015, (US$2.6m/A$3.46m)
Gold Line repayments (1480 oz gold, valued at approximately AUD $2.3m using current gold price of AUD $1,550/oz). The Gold Loan was established in 2013 and 2014 between CVR and a private entity, West Asia Minerals Ltd.
In addition to assuming the Dalabai debts, the Buyer will also make the following cash payments to
CVR:
US$300,000 (A$400,000) upon execution of a formal Sale and Purchase Agreement;
US$200,000 (A$266,000) upon commencement of gold production if production commences by 15 September 2015, otherwise on 15 December 2015; and
A 1% Gross Royalty from Dalabai production, capped at US$360,000 (A$480,000)
commencing from 1 January 2016 and paid during 2016 and 2017.
These amounts total approximately AUD $6.9m using an exchange rate of US$0.75/A$. The Board is satisfied that this represents a reasonable return for shareholders given the difficulty of securing finance for Dalabai, and it's relatively short mine life.
The Buyer will purchase Palm ES, the operating company for Dalabai, and operate Dalabai under a Management Agreement with Onzhas LLP, whose subsidiary company holds the subsoil licence for Dalabai.
The CEO is currently in Kazakhstan to finalise legal agreements and negotiate with creditors for execution of this transaction.
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Quarterly Activities Report
June 2015
The Halyk Bank, with whom the Company established a debt facility for US$0.9m (Tranche 1) and
$1.6m (Tranche 2), has agreed to a further 1 month standstill of repayments without penalty to allow completion of this transaction.
General
Shares in the Company were suspended from trading on the ASX on 1st April 2015 as the Company's
2014 Accounts were not submitted by 31st March 2015. While Consolidated Accounts have been
compiled, signed-off audited Accounts from the Kazakh subsidiary companies are not yet available due to funding constraints. This Kazakh audit work will commence in early August, and it is expected that the Annual Accounts can be submitted and the suspension from trading lifted in the September quarter.
Cash
As at 30th June 2015, the Company had $1,500 cash.
Competent Persons Statement
The information in this report that relates to Exploration results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Peter Thompson who is employed by Central Asia Resources Limited. Mr. Thompson is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mr. Thompson consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on information in the form and context in which it appears.
The information included in this report was prepared and first disclosed under the JORC Code 2004. It has not been updated since to comply with the JORC Code 2012 on the basis that the information has not materially changed since it was last reported.
Statements regarding Central Asia Resources' plans with respect to its mineral properties are forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that Central Asia Resources' plans for development of its mineral properties will proceed as currently expected. There can also be no assurance that Central Asia Resources' will be able to confirm the presence of additional mineral deposits, that any mineralisation will prove to be economic or that a mine will successfully be developed on any of Central Asia Resources' mineral properties.
For further information contact:
Peter Thompson
Managing Director
Central Asia Resources Ltd
Ph: (+61)0417 979 169 (Australia) (+7) 771 507 2936 (Kazakhstan)
[email protected]
Jason Campbell
Company Secretary
Central Asia Resources Ltd
Ph: +61 8 6489 0600
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Quarterly Activities Report
June 2015
About Central Asia Resources
Central Asia Resources Limited (ASX: CVR) is focused on exploration, development and production of gold in Kazakhstan. The Company holds two license areas in Kazakhstan. These include four deposits with 2009 JORC Resources, all of which have exploration upside, and areas of significant prospectivity based on extensive exploration during Soviet times. The license areas are within recognised gold belts, and close to operating mines and infrastructure. Trial mining commenced at the first project, Dalabai in February 2012 using shallow open pit mining and heap leach technology. A Limited Restart of Dalabai operations was conducted during August 2013 to December 2013, with mining operations recommenced at Dalabai in 2014 but suspended again due to funding limitations.
Disclaimer
Certain statements included in this announcement may constitute forward looking information. This information is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions made by the Company in light of its experience, current conditions and expectations of future developments, as well as other factors that the Company believes are appropriate in the circumstances. While these estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable, they are inherently subject to business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking information provided by the Company, or on behalf of, the Company. Such factors include, among other things, risks relating to additional funding requirements, commodity prices, exploration, acquisition, development and operating risks, competition, production risks, regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulation and liability and potential title disputes. Forward-looking information is no guarantee of future performance and, accordingly, investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Forward-looking information is made as at the date of this announcement and the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by law.
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