Kyrgyz state-owned gold miner Kyrgyzaltyn said Wednesday it has yet to see an offer by Chaarat Gold Holdings to acquire Centerra Gold’s Kumtor mine, which is the Central Asian nation’s largest gold operation.
Speaking to Reuters, Kyrgyzaltyn chief executive Bektur Sagynov said the company would have to study Chaarat offer, which would make the London-listed miner Kumtor’s operator, while Kyrgyzaltyn would own the mine’s preferred equity and be entitled to 50% of the operation’s economic benefits.
The Canadian miner said Tuesday it had already informed Chaarat that it was not interested in its unsolicited bid for Kumtor, adding hat senior Kyrgyz officials have confirmed to the company in recent meeting that the country’s government also wasn’t interested in pursuing the proposed deal.
Kumtor mine, 100% owned by Centerra through its subsidiary Kumtor Gold, is located in the southern Tien Shan Metallogenic belt, in which Charaat owns a namesake project.
Under its current arrangement with the Toronto-based miner, Kyrgyzstan has a 26.6% interest in the company, which is the main foreign investor and taxpayer in the landlocked country, a former Soviet republic.
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