West Perth-based minerals explorer Central Asia Resources Ltd will increase its gold exploration in Kazakhstan after increasing its stake in resources company Golden Eagle Investment Resources Ltd to 60 per cent.
West Perth-based minerals explorer Central Asia Resources Ltd will increase its gold exploration in Kazakhstan after increasing its stake in resources company Golden Eagle Investment Resources Ltd to 60 per cent.
Golden Eagle, which holds controlling stakes in gold, silver and platinum projects in Kazakhstan, was already 25 per cent owned by Cental Asia, which signalled its intention to increase its stake in its initial public offer earlier this year.
After paying $3 million for the stake, the company will commence an aggresive exploration program as soon as possible, it said in an announcement.
The full text of a Central Asia announcement is pasted below
Kazakhstan-focused Central Asia Resources has increased its interest in Golden Eagle Investment Resources Limited ("Golden Eagle") to 60 per cent, as it steps up exploration of its highly prospective exploration projects.
Golden Eagle has a 95 per cent interest in the Alytn-Tas Joint Venture and a 60 per cent interest in the Buguty-Palm Joint Venture, which together currently cover approximately 3,200km² of highly prospective gold projects in Kazakhstan.
Central Asia invested an initial US$1m to gain a 25 per cent interest in Golden Eagle and has increased its interest to 60 per cent via a cash settlement of US$2.5m. The increased interest was funded from the company's existing cash reserves from its recent initial public offering (IPO).
Central Asia's Kazakhstan project areas, K2, Akbakai South, Balkhash and Boguty Corridor have historical Russian category and unclassified resource estimates. The Company is focused on resource definition and project evaluation to produce resource estimates which can be classified in accordance the current JORC Code guidelines.
The company's project areas are located close to Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan and has well established road, rail and telecommunications infrastructure nearby.
Central Asia Director Angela Dent said the increased interest in Golden Eagle was a significant transaction that would give the company greater control over its Kazakhstan gold projects and would deliver increased value to shareholders.
"The increased interest in Golden Eagle will enable us to further utilise existing business structures, access to infrastructure and local associations in Kazakhstan to ensure we can better manage and rapidly develop our highly prospective gold projects," Ms Dent said.
"The company is expecting final results from a recent drilling campaign at the K2 project and will continue an aggressive exploration program to prove up an interim JORC-compliant resource for this prospect as soon as possible."
