Singapore-Based CNMC Expands Mining Footprint In Malaysia's Kelantan

SINGAPORE, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Singapore-based CNMC Goldmine Holdings Limited will expand its mining footprint in Malaysia by nearly five-fold when it completes its subscription of a 51 per cent stake in Pulai Mining Sdn Bhd. Pulai Mining owns a brownfield project in Malaysia's east coast state Kelantan that can potentially yield gold, iron ore and feldspar. CNMC in statement following an agreement signing ceremony on Friday said it had satisfactorily completed its due diligence investigations on Pulai Mining and was on track to complete the subscription. Spanning 38.4 sq km, the brownfield project is nearly four times the size of CNMC's flagship Sokor gold field in Kelantan and is located about 105 kilometres from Sokor. Pulai Mining has 11 exploration and mining licences in the north-eastern Malaysian state, where CNMC is one of the largest foreign investors. CNMC Chief Executive Officer, Lim Kuoh Yang, signed the agreement with Group Chief Executive Officer of the Kelantan State Economic Development Corporation (KSEDC), Dr Wan Zawawi Bin Wan Ismail, at a ceremony here to cement the subscription. It was witnessed by Kelantan Menteri Besar (Chief Minister), Ahmad Yaakob. The subscription was first announced by the company on June 28, 2016 in a non-binding letter of intent. CNMC will inject US$3.10 million (RM13.8 million) in cash into Pulai Mining for the 51 per cent stake. The other shareholders – KSEDC, Sumberjaya Ventures Sdn Bhd, Centurion Resources Pte Ltd and CM Strategic Holdings Pte Ltd – own the remaining 49 per cent. Upon completion of the proposed subscription, CNMC said it would commence geological exploration to uncover any potential mineral resources that comply with the internationally accepted Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC). The brownfield project has features similar to those at Sokor, according to an exploration exercise carried out from October 2014 to April 2015 by China Railway Resources Exploration Co Ltd. It said past production data also pointed to strong potential for more gold to be uncovered at the site, which yielded over 260 kilogrammes of gold between March 2011 and May 2013. "This is a major milestone for CNMC. Just as we managed to turn Sokor into a gold-producing mine after several years of exploration work, we hope we can do the same for the Pulai Mining project, and hopefully within a shorter time frame. "The prospect of being able to produce not just gold but also iron ore and feldspar makes this project all the more exciting," said Lim. He noted that the significant progress in sealing the Pulai Mining subscription underscored the close ties between CNMC and KSEDC. CNMC has been working with KSEDC, which is responsible for the overall economic development of Kelantan, for more than 10 years now. KSEDC is also a shareholder of CNMC Mining Group Sdn Bhd, CNMC's operating subsidiary in Sokor. "Through Sokor, CNMC has demonstrated its ability to build and sustain a successful mining operation in Kelantan. It has done well and is now the largest gold producing mining company in the state. "We see strong potential for another thriving mining operation in Kelantan, with Pulai Mining on track to becoming a subsidiary of CNMC," Dr Wan Zawawi meanwhile said. The company has produced more than 100,000 ounces of fine gold from the Sokor mine since 2010, when it achieved its first gold pour on July 21, 2010. Output reached 31,206 ounces in 2015, the most in any given year since the mine started production. CNMC currently focuses on developing the Sokor Gold Field Project with four gold deposit regions, namely Manson's Lode, New Discovery, Sg Ketubong and Rixen. As of December 2015, the Sokor Gold Field Project had JORC-compliant gold resources (inclusive of ore reserves) of 13.83 million tonnes at a grade of 1.4 gramme per tonne in the measured, indicated and inferred categories for a total of 618,000 ounces. --BERNAMA