On December 11, Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd. announced that its Pogra gold mine located in Papua New Guinea (hereinafter referred to as "Papua New Guinea") has recently reached all the prerequisites required for a full resumption of production, and will officially start production resumption on December 22, 2023. With the resumption of production systems such as mining and beneficiation, the first production of synthetized gold from the Pogra mine is expected in the first quarter of 2024.
Zijin Mining said that after the full resumption of production of the Pogra Gold mine, it is still owned by its new joint venture with Barrick Gold Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "BNL") in Pakistan, and Barrick Gold Corporation holds 50% equity in BNL respectively; BNL holds 49% equity of Pogra Gold Mine Project Company, and PNG related parties hold 51% equity of the project company) is responsible for mine operation, which will effectively guarantee the order and production efficiency of Pogra Gold mine.
According to BNL's latest plan, the Bogla gold mine reserves 417 tons of gold resources, after the resumption of production, the mine is expected to produce an average annual output of 21 tons of gold, the remaining life of the mine more than 20 years. According to the calculation that Zijin Mining indirectly holds 24.5% interest in Bogla Gold Mine through BNL, the annual gold production attributable to the company's interest is about 5 tons, which will significantly increase the company's gold production and bring continuous and stable profit contribution to the company. The economic revenue sharing ratio between the PNG parties and BNL over the total mining life of the Pogra gold mine is 53% and 47%; Economic revenue sharing is calculated on the basis of cash flow distribution, which includes government taxes, dividends from the project company and other cash distributions to the PNG interested parties.
Zijin Mining said that in 2015, the company paid US $298 million (US $100 million for equity, US $198 million for debt) to acquire a 50% interest in BNL, and by April 2020, the company had recovered the investment cost of the Bogla gold Mine. Future plans and other forward-looking statements related to this announcement do not constitute a substantial commitment of the company to investors, investors please pay attention to investment risks.
