Board Appointments & General Company Update
Immediate Release 24 February 2011
Centamin Egypt Limited ("Centamin" or "the Company")
(LSE:CEY, TSX:CEE)
BOARD APPOINTMENTS AND GENERAL COMPANY UPDATE
Centamin Egypt Limited, the gold mining group in Egypt, is pleased to announce the following Board appointments and general Company update:
Corporate
v The Company is pleased to announce the appointments of Mr Mark Arnesen and Mr Mark Bankes as non-executive directors. These appointments are part of the Company's growth strategy with both individuals bringing valuable and relevant experience to the Board. Mr Arnesen has extensive expertise in the structuring and negotiation of finance for major resource projects, and Mr Bankes specialises in international securities, mining policy and agreements, mergers and acquisitions and international restructurings for the resource sector.
v Mr Colin Cowden and Dr Thomas Elder will be retiring at the Company's upcoming Annual General Meeting to be held on Thursday, 26 May 2011.
v The Company's Concession Agreement with the Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority (under the Ministry of Petroleum) and Arab Republic of Egypt (as passed through the National Assembly as Law 222 of 1994) will remain unaffected by the recent political changes in Egypt. All parties continue to honour their obligations under this Agreement.
v The Company remains in a financially strong position to realise its objectives in growing its gold production and resource base both within Egypt and throughout the region.
Sukari Operations
v As previously announced, the Company produced a record Q4 2010 production of 53,189 ounces at an operating cost of $498/oz.
v Underground development ore continues to be accessed and mined as part of establishing initial stope access. Initial trial stoping is expected to commence late this quarter.
v SAG milling operations have continued as normal after the successful introduction of the steel liner and lifter system in early November. Liners have performed to specification and are not due to be changed out until the end of Q1 with the replacement set already on site.
v Earlier in the month up to 50 Sukari employees, mainly from the mining operation, refused to go to work. This is out of a total workforce of over 1,000 people, the remainder of which continued to work in their respective areas. All employees have now returned to work and the Sukari workforce is back to full strength. Process plant operations continued uninterrupted throughout the stop work by this minority.
v During the political unrest in Egypt, there were mild disruptions with port authorities and supply lines which lead to some inventory levels being drawn down. Whilst this, as well as the brief industrial dispute, has caused some minor and immaterial disruption to mining operations, process plant operations continued unaffected throughout the entire period.
v The Company maintains its 2011 production guidance of 250-290,000 ounces at an average cash cost of $450/oz. As previously stated, further guidance on this will be provided around mid-2011 as more information becomes available on the timing and scale of commercial underground production rates.
Sukari Expansions (Stages 3 and 4)
v The Stage 3 plant expansion to 5Mtpa remains on schedule for mid-2011 commissioning.
v The Front End Engineering and Design for the Stage 4 Expansion is remains on schedule with project approval and ordering of long lead items expected late in Q1/early Q2 2011.
Director Backgrounds and Changes
Mark Arnesen (age 51) has extensive expertise in the structuring and negotiation of finance for major resource projects. He is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years experience in the international resources industry, including a role with the Billiton/Gencor group companies where he was a corporate Treasurer from 1996 to 1998. In 2000 Mr Arnesen joined Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited as Managing Director - International Treasury and held the position until 2004. From 2004 until 2006 he worked with Equinox Minerals Limited and put in place the Lumwana project financing. In November 2006 he joined Moto Goldmines limited as the Financial Director and held the position until the company was taken over by Randgold Resources Limited in late 2009. He was a Non-Executive Director of Natasa Mining Limited (2006-2010) and now sits on their Advisory Board. He was a Non Executive Director of Asian Mineral Resources during 2010. He is currently the sole director of ARM Advisors Proprietary Limited. Mr Arnesen serves as a Member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Accounting degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand. Mr Arnesesn has not held any other directorships in public companies during the previous five years and does not currently hold any shares in Centamin. There are no other details to disclose under paragraph 9.6.13 of the Listing Rules of the London Stock Exchange.
Mark Bankes (age 50) is an international corporate finance lawyer. Mr Bankes has an MA from Cambridge University and joined Norton Rose in 1984. He worked in both London and Hong Kong and was a partner at Norton Rose LLP from 1994 to 2007 before starting his own business, Bankes Consulting EURL, in October 2007. Mr Bankes specialises in international securities, mining policy and agreements, mergers and acquisitions and international restructurings for the resource sector. Mr Bankes has not held any other directorships in public companies during the previous five years and does not currently hold any shares in Centamin. There are no other details to disclose under paragraph 9.6.13 of the Listing Rules of the London Stock Exchange.
Mr Colin Cowden and Dr Thomas Elder will be retiring at the Company's upcoming Annual General Meeting to be held on Thursday, 26 May 2011. Both gentlemen have been a pleasure to work alongside as we have grown the Company from a junior explorer through to a developer and gold producer. The Company would particularly like to thank Colin Cowden who has loyally and professionally served shareholders since his appointment in 1982.
For Centamin Egypt Limited
Josef El-Raghy
Chairman
24 February 2011
For more information please contact:
|
Centamin Egypt Limited + 61 (8) 9316 2640 Josef El-Raghy |
Buchanan Communications Limited + 44 (0) 207 7466 5000 Bobby Morse Katharine Sutton |
This information is provided by RNS