JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Charaat Gold has bolstered its senior management team with the appointment of two key personnel to deliver its Tulkubash heap-leach project, in Kyrgyz Republic.
The company appointed former Vista Gold VP of exploration, Frank Fenne, as head of geology and also recruited Davron Vakhabov, a heap leach specialist, who most recently worked at the Amulsar gold project, in Armenia.
“Securing key personnel to deliver the project is critical and recruitment continues to strengthen the project team,” Charaat said in a statement.
Meanwhile, steady progress is being reported with the development of the Tulkubash project. The key project workflows for the project are on course and local permitting is well advanced.
The company has to submit a document called a ‘technical project’ (TP) by December next year to the State Committee of Energy, Industry and Subsoil Use, in which it has to set out a detailed plan for the development of the deposit. The TP will be submitted with the environmental impact assessment, or Ovos, of the proposed development.
The company reported that it had received a positive expert evaluation on the Ovos, which it described as a significant milestone in developing the Tulkubash project.
Good progress has also been made with securing land for the project, with 60% of the land required having been leased until 2032.
Charaat previously said that a bankable feasibility study for the Tulkubash project would be completed in the first quarter of next year. Based on the current plan, Charaat is planning a project with a processing capacity of 2.8-million tonnes of ore a year, which would result in production of 60 000 oz/y to 70 000 oz/y with a mine life of just over five years.