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Hambledon Mining plc is an AIM-listed gold mining and exploration company which is producing gold at the Sekisovskoye gold deposit and owns the Ognevka processing plant, both of which are close to Ust-Kamenogorsk in East Kazakhstan.
At Sekisovskoye, the Company is mining from an open pit and has constructed an 850,000 tonnes per year treatment plant which has been operating since December 2007.
Target production from the open pit is 40,000 ounces per annum. The Company plans to develop the much larger underground resource which is expected to lead to a combined production rate of around 100,000 ounces per year once sufficient funds have been accumulated.
Test work is being undertaken at the Ognevka processing plant to determine how best to exploit its potential but development of Ognevka is not a priority at this time.
Sekisovskoye
The mineral rights to the Sekisovskoye project are held by a 100% owned subsidiary, TOO Sekisovskoye and the processing plant is held by 100% owned subsidiary TOO Altai Ken-Bayitu.
The Sekisovskoye deposit is located at the village of Sekisovka, approximately 40 kilometres from the East Kazakhstan regional capital, Ust Kamenogorsk. The road from Ust Kamenogorsk to Sekisovka is sealed and provides the main route between Ust Kamenogorsk and Ridder and further on in to Russia.
The deposit occurs in the northwest marginal zone of the 40 thousand sq.km Rudny Altai Palaeozoic metallogenic belt that occupies the eastern border of Kazakhstan and the Altaisky region of Russia. The mineral hosting intrusives are of late Devonian age.
The open pit JORC resources are indicated at 9.55 million tones sulphide ore grading 1.8 g/t gold, with 3.0 g/t silver. Underground, the indicated reserves are 2.21 million tones grading 5.1 g/t gold and 2.0 g/t silver. Total indicated and inferred resources for open pit and underground amount to 2,557,816 oz gold and 3,575,805 oz silver.
Production is targeted to reach 40,000 oz annually from the open pit operation. AMC Consultants of Perth have conducted a study for the underground project , with construction due to commence in 2009. When it is fully operational, it is expected that there will be 350,000 tonnes ore per annum from the open pit and 500,000 tonnes from underground, together yielding some 100,000 oz gold annually.
Exploration
Tserkovka
The drilling results from Tserkovka, adjacent to Skeisovskoye, were disappointing with no continuous zones identified. The limited resource that was identified is being assessed but total expected mined ounces will not be significant.
Glinka and Krugliachka
The Company has sought to expand the exploration base into nearby prospects that are similar to Sekisovskoye and may be treated in the same or expanded treatment plant. Two further mineralised areas, Glinka and Krugliachka, covering a combined area of approximately 10 square kilometres, have been identified and a formal application has received a positive response.
Krugliachka lies 8 km to the northwest of Sekisovskoye and appears to have the potential to be another deposit of the Sekisovskoye type, though exploration is at an early stage. Grab samples on surface of up to 5 g/t gold were discovered by former Soviet geologists who concluded that the site was worthy of further exploration. They recommended trenching and shallow drilling in the hope of discovering zones of secondary enrichment below the oxidised cap, similar to the high grade area of Sekisovskoye that was mined in Soviet times.
Glinka lies some four kilometres to the north-east of Tserkovka where the local population has mined kaolin clay. Samples taken from the kaolin pit walls indicate the possible presence of payable gold-polymetallic mineralisation.
Ognevka
The Ognevka facility is located at the village of Ognevka, approximately 50 km from the East Kazakhstan regional capital, Ust-Kamenogorsk. It is situated on the banks of the Irtysh river which can be navigated by cargo vessels and is served by road and a railway line on which the facility has its own sidings.
TOO Ognevka, owner of the Ognevka processing facility, was acquired in January 2007 whilst it was in a process of court supervised “rehabilitation” similar to the US “Chapter 11” which still continues. The company has external debts of approximately $1m.
The facility has two main production lines. The first is a 350,000 tonnes per year crushing, grinding and flotation circuit which has been adapted for the treatment of “clinker”residues from zinc smelters, which contain high values of copper, gold, silver, iron and carbon. The second is a 200,000 tonnes per year gravity concentrator formerly used to treat tantalum ore from a now-closed mine which used to operate at the site. The treatment of clinkers has not proved to be economic at current prices but further options for the use of the facility are being studied. The company owns around 1.5 million tones of existing tailings and access to much larger resources which contain significant quantities of feldspar, lithium, and other by-products. Although test work has indicated that a project to produce feldspar for use in the glass-making and ceramic industries would be viable in a more normal economic environment, the project has been deferred as a result of the current depressed market conditions.
The plant can be adapted to treat a wide range of metallic ores and would provide a cheaper and faster alternative to building a dedicated on-site process facility for a number of base metal deposits in the vicinity. This opportunity may provide a significant basis for the expansion of the Group.
Kazakhstan
| George Eccles | Chairman (Non-executive) |
| Chris Thomas | Non-executive Director |
| Nicholas Bridgen | Chief Executive |
| Baurzhan Yerkeyev | Executive Director |
| Neil Stevenson | Technical Director |
| Management | |
| William Morgan | CFO & Company Secretary |
| Charles Zorab | Corporate Affairs |
Company AddressDaws House, 33-35 Daws Lane
|
Additional Address/Key ContactRepresentative Office: |
CapitalNumber of Ordinary Shares issued and fully paid – 469,189,233 |
Annual General MeetingJuly | Year End31 December |
Nominated BrokersFAIRFAX I.S. PLC | Nominated AdvisorsFAIRFAX I.S. PLC |
| Nicholas Bridgen | 90,198,936 | 19.22% |
| Blackrock Investment Management | 51,765,855 | 11.03% |
| Alzhan Shomaev | 21,521,232 | 4.59% |
| AXA Framlington Investment Management | 17,321,326 | 3.69% |
| Hermes Pensions Management | 17,909,955 | 3.82% |
| Majedie Asset Management | 17,150,000 | 3.66% |
| Barclays Stockbrokers | 20,349,590 | 4.34% |
| Morley Fund Management | 13,524,821 | 3.08% |