10th Oct 2006 11:17
Centamin Egypt Limited10 October 2006 10 October 2006 Centamin Egypt Limited ("Centamin") Sukari Gold Project - Process Plant Acquisition Centamin Egypt Limited is pleased to announce that it has entered into a bindingagreement with a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation, to acquire the KoriKollo CIL process plant for US$11m. The acquisition will be funded out ofexisting cash reserves. The Kori Kollo plant is located in Bolivia and was built and commissioned byMinproc Engineers in 1993. The plant operated for ten years and on-siteinspections from Centamin representatives have shown the key plant components tobe in excellent condition due to the site altitude providing a non-corrosiveenvironment and the high standard of maintenance practices during operation. Payment for the plant is to be on a structured basis, pending the satisfactorycompletion of certain events occurring with title to pass once the plant isdelivered into Chile. The plant is ideally suited to the Sukari orebody and key equipment sizing iswell matched to the 4-5mtpa processing rate currently envisaged for the Sukariproject. The acquisition represents a key step forward in bringing the Sukariproject into production. Scope of the Acquisition The purchase includes: • Crushing circuit - primary gyratory crusher, rock breakers, stockpile feed conveyor • Grinding and classification circuit - 28' Fuller SAG mill , 2 x 16'6'' Fuller ball mills, mill inching drive, mill liner handling machine • CIL (Leach and Adsorption) circuit and carbon recovery equipment • Thickening and process water area - Enviro Clear 75' diameter thickener • Reagent plant - flocculant plant, caustic dosing system • Gravity separation circuit • Sulphur dioxide cyanide destruction plant • Engineering design and construction drawings • Operating and maintenance manuals • Spares inventory Overview photographs of the plant are provided on Centamin's website, http://www.centamin.com . Relocation Plan Roche Mining (JR) Pty Ltd has been appointed to manage the dismantling,transportation and refurbishment of the plant. The plant is currently being electrically isolated to allow for dismantling.This process will be completed sequentially over the next two months, duringwhich time dismantling will commence. The plant will be trucked to the port ofArica in Chile, shipped to Alexandria in Egypt and then trucked to Sukari. The purchase of this plant represents an opportunity to materially reduce thecost of development of the Sukari project and also accelerate the constructiontimetable. By necessity, the completion of the Feasibility Study will be delayedwhilst a thorough review of the impact of the purchase of this process plant oncapital and operating costs is carried out. Enquiries: Centamin EgyptJosef El-Raghy +61 (8) 9316 2640 Evolution SecuritiesFrank Moxon / Simon Edwards +44 (20) 7071 4300 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Centamin PLC