Name of the Project
Tulkubash oxide gold project.

Location
Kyrgyzstan.

Project Owner/s
Charaat Gold Holdings.

Project Description
The project has gold reserves of 571 100 oz and silver reserves of 845 700 oz mined over a current five-year life-of-mine.

The updated bankable feasibility study (BFS) envisages average gold production of 95 200 oz/y and silver production of 140 940 oz/y, with peak production during steady-state operations of more than 111 000 oz/y.

The project will use conventional openpit mining methods followed by standard heap-leach processing.

The heap-leach facility will process five-million tonnes a year.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an improved after-tax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $85-million and an internal rate of return of 25%.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital costs are estimated at $115-million.

Planned Start/End Date
First gold is expected in 2024.

Latest Developments
Chaarat Gold CEO Mike Fraser has said that the company has an exceptionally good working relationship with the government of the Kyrgyz Republic.

When Tulkubash’s bankable feasibility study was published in May 2021, the plan was to start the project in January 2022, but this coincided with the Kyrgyz government’s taking control of the Kumtor mine from Centerra Resources, a Canada-based company.

“. . . the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic . . . has said that a resolution [is] imminent,” Fraser has noted.

Feedback from multilaterals and private investors is that they will be willing to participate once the Centerra issue is settled.

Early works have started at Tulkubash, which are scheduled to be accelerated as soon as financing is in place.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
LogiProc (overall project management, minerals processing and metallurgical testing, recovery methods, project infrastructure, capital cost estimate, operating cost estimate, project execution plan); SMS (geological block model and associated data integrity, mining method review, economic analysis and ore reserve statement); WAI (environmental studies, permitting, social or community impact, geochemistry, hydrology, hydrogeology); and Ausenco (drilling, mineral resource review, sample preparation, data verification, analyses, security and heap-leach facility design).

Contact Details for Project Information
Charaat Gold Holdings, tel +44 20 7499 2612 or email info@chaarat.com.