Chaarat Gold Holdings (LON:CGH) disclosed Tuesday its unsolicited bid for Centerra Gold’s (TSX:CG) Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan valued the operation, the Asian country’s largest gold mine, at $800 million (about Cdn $1.025 billion at today’s exchange rate).
The miner, which is developing the Chaarat project in Kyrgyzstan, said the proposed acquisition of Kumtor included $400 million in cash plus the cancellation of the $400 million of Centerra shares currently held by state miner Kyrgyzaltyn in exchange for a 50% direct preferred economic interest in the mine.
Chaarat would own all of the common equity of Kumtor, as well as control over management and operations of the mine. The government, in turn, would hold all of the preferred equity of Kumtor, and be entitled to 50% of the economic benefits from the mine, the firm said.
Additionally, the London-based firm vowed to invest up to $600 million in the country’s mining sector over the next five to seven years.
For now, the company said it had begun drilling on its Tulkubash gold project, also in Kyrgyzstan, adding that a visual inspection of the core produced so far has indicated that mineralization has already been intersected.
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