DUSHANBE, July 10, Asia-Plus — Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd, a Chinese leading gold and base metal producer, intends to buy a 75 percent ownership interest of British company in the Tajik-British joint venture Zeravshan (Zeravshan Gold Company or ZGC), Asia-Plus has learned from Deputy Energy and Industries Minister, Mahmadsharif Haqdodov.
According to him, in the beginning of this year, Commonwealth & British Mineral Ltd decided to sell its share in ZGC. “They justified the decision by saying that they failed to arrange the enterprise’s activity properly and therefore they incurred considerable losses,” the deputy minister said, adding that representatives from Zijin Mining Group Co. expressed intention to invest some 100 million US dollars in development of ZGC.
“The agreement will be singed in late July,” Said Haqdodov, “The Chinese company will develop the Taror deposit.”
Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code of 2899. In 2005, its gold production ranked 20
th
among global gold producers with a yield of 20.96 tons (according to website
www.goldsheetlinks.com/ptable.htm
). Since December 20
th
2005, Zijin Mining has been included in the FTSE mine index. On March 20
th
2006, Zijin entered into the Dow Jones Offshore 50 Index.
The group is principally engaged in the exploration of gold, copper and the other non-ferrous metals. Zijinshan Gold Mine, the core enterprise of Zijin Group, has been developed into a single metal mine with largest usable gold reserves. The Gold Refinery of the Group is one of the first qualified gold refineries recognized by the Shanghai Gold Exchange, and is included in the Gold Delivery List of the London Bullion Metal Association (LBMA), demonstrating its capability of producing standard gold bullions and bars. The gold is entitled to use the logo of “the product implementing international standard”.
UK’s Avocet Mining PLC (Avocet) owns 75 percent of the shares and the Tajik government assumes the 25% ownership interest in ZGC. The main product of ZGC is gold-silver Dore alloy, which is refining at affinage plant in Tajikistan with producing of chemically pure gold and silver (99.99 and 99.95 alloys respectively).
ZGC was launched as a joint venture with Nelson Resources Ltd (44%) and the Tajikistan government (51%) and the IFC (5%) in 1994. In September 2002, Avocet signed a heads of agreement to acquire the Tajik gold assets of Toronto-based Nelson Resources Ltd held through Nelson”s subsidiary, Commonwealth and British Minerals Ltd. The assets included a 44% interest in Zeravshan Gold. In November 2004, Avocet increased its equity interest in ZGC from 49% to 75%.
