17th Aug 2015 07:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - The chief executive of Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd on Monday said he understands and shares the frustration of the company's shareholders over the delay of the definitive feasibility study for the Chaarat project in the Kyrgyz Republic.
"I reported in June that the definitive feasibility study remained on track for delivery imminently. We understand and share the frustration of our shareholders that the DFS is not yet available," said Chief Executive Dekel Golan.
"We are doing our best to complete the work as soon as possible and certainly do not take for granted the exemplary patience of our supportive shareholders," he added.
In April the company said the study was set to be delivered in the middle of 2015, and in June the company said the study was "nearing completion on schedule".
Partially responsible for the delays was "the challenges of the cultural differences and different technical approaches" with the Chinese company Chaarat hired to complete the engineering work for the project.
On Monday, the miner said: "In fact our attempts to reconcile and co-ordinate Western study practices with Chinese technical approaches as well as interface the work with local Kyrgyz standards has proved even more challenging and time consuming than we anticipated."
The main problems this has caused is the large amount of technical Chinese to Russian translation required for review by local Kyrgyz institutes, which is still underway, and the "thorough" review process needed to comply with Chinese regulatory standards before they can "sign off" the study, Chaarat Gold said.
The company plans to hold meetings in China "over the next few weeks" to try to address the problems.
"The board anticipates issuing a further update to the market on timing to completion of the DFS at the conclusion of these meetings," it said.
Chaarat also needs the license which will allow it to operate the project. The company said it has been continuing talks with the local community to gather support, and on Monday said the local community "strongly supported" the project at a recent public hearing.
Chaarat shares were down 2.2% to 7.33 pence per share on Monday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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