PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal developer Aspire Mining has reported improved financial outcomes for its Ovoot early development project (OEDP), in Mongolia.
Aspire on Monday said that recent mining contractor quoted rates have reduced mine gate cost per tonne by around 19%, from $32.80/t to $26.40/t over the life of the project.
C1 cash costs have also fallen from $83/t to $78/t for coal delivered to the Chinese border.
In its June quarterly report, Aspire reported an optimised re-scheduled start-up mine plan, whereby initial waste removal was deferred until the second and third year of operations, which is expected to result in a 34% reduction in the required up-front capital investment, which now stood at $31-million, down from $47-million.
The OEDP is expected to deliver four-million tonnes a year of washed saleable coal over an initial 12.5-year period, from a single openpit operation that will make use of only a small portion of the overall Ovoot project reserves.
Aspire shareholders are expected to vote on a A$33.5-million share placement to shareholder Mr Tserenpuntsag on November 29 in Perth. If shareholders approve the 2.1c a share placement, Tserenpuntsag’s shareholding in Aspire will increase from his current 27.5% to 51%.
The Aspire board will subsequently be restructured, reduced from seven members to five, while a ten-for-one share consolidation would also be on the cards to reduce the number of shares on issue.