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Company Information for Orsu Metals Corporation

Company stock charts - 6 Month chart

Exchange TSX; OSU


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Exchange AIM; OSU


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Company Statement

Orsu Metals Corporation is a dual-listed (TSX & AIM), London-based precious and base metals mining, production, exploration and development company which is operating the Varvarinskoye open pit gold-copper mine in northern Kazakhstan and exploring advanced staged gold deposits in the Tien Shan gold belt in the Kyrgyz Republic, one of the largest and most prolific gold belts in the world and the Rudny Altai copper belt in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Orsu was formed in June 2008 after the acquisition of Lero Gold Corp. by European Minerals Corporation.

On formation, Orsu Metals Corporation’s assets consisted of the following:

  • a 100% interest in the Varvarinskoye Project, located in Northern Kazakhstan;
  • a 100% interest in the Talas Project, located in the Talas region of Kyrgyzstan; and
  • a 70% interest in the Karchiga Project, located in northeast Kazakhstan.

With senior management and excellent technical expertise, Orsu intends to aggressively explore and develop a portfolio of new projects and targets.


Current Operations

Varvarinskoye
Located 130km southwest of Kostanai in north-western Kazakhstan, Orsu’s 100% owned Varvarinskoye gold-copper mine is currently in the development and ramp-up phase and produces for sale gold doré and copper-gold concentrate.

The mine commenced production of gold doré in December 2007 and copper-gold concentrate in March 2008.

During the year ended 31 December 2008, the Varvarinskoye Project produced a total of 1,263,697 grams (40,628.8 troy oz) of gold and 4,494 tonnes of copper recovered to concentrate, generating revenues of $43.7 million.

Subsequent to the formation of the Company in mid June 2008, Orsu’s main focus has been the ramp-up of mining operations at Varvarinskoye. Since processing of Varvarinskoye ores commenced in December 2007, Varvarinskoye’s production plant has seen significant increases in throughput. The Company is implementing a plan to add a secondary low cost screening and crushing plant at Varvarinskoye which is expected to increase throughput in the leach circuit (up to 120% of design capacity) and flotation grinding circuits (up to 108% of design capacity).

The deposit has simple metallurgy, strong economics and potential for expansion. The project is expected to treat 4.2Mt of ore per annum with a current mine life of 8 years. The mining licence area of Varvarinskoye occupies approximately 1,300 hectares. This area is surrounded by approximately 180km2 of exploration licence area. Assay results from diamond drilling completed in the 2007 field season combined with historical data enabled the Company to outline significant additional mineral resources beneath the final pit design.

Talas
The Talas exploration area is located on the north slope of the Talas Valley, in the Talas Oblast, north western Kyrgyzstan. At elevations of 1,800 to 3,000m, the project is accessible year round via the main Bishkek-Talas road (270km from Bishkek).

Orsu’s premier project within this area is the Taldybulak copper-gold porphyry.

The Talas exploration area comprises of four exploration licences: Taldybulak, Barkol, Kentash and Korgontash, with a combined area of 371km2.

Proposed 2008 - 2009 Taldybulak-Talas Exploration Licences Drilling Programme:


Licence Area  

Purpose       

Target

Proposed Metres

Taldybulak 

Drill Out

Taldybulak Central

7,000m

 

Exploration

TaldybulakWest extension & Taldybulak Central

2,000m

 

 

 

 

 

Exploration

Taldybulak East

2,000m

Barkol

Exploration

Taldybulak <st1:place w:st="on">West IP</st1:place> Anomaly

3,000m

 

Exploration

Taldybulak East extension into Mag & IP anomaly

800m

 

 

 

 

Kentash

Exploration

Lower Kentash (Dzhangiturmish SE extension) WS soils and IP anomaly        

1,000m

 

Exploration

Kokkiya

400m

 

 

 

 

Korgontash

Exploration

 Tokhtonnisai

800m

 

 

 

 

TOTAL

 

 

17,000m


Tokhtazan Gold Project
The Tokhtazan deposit is located at 410 34' north, 720 21' east in mountainous terrain in Jalal-Abad Oblast, western Kyrgyzstan. Access to the deposit is via the main Bishkek-Osh bitumen road for some 400km then 14km up a variably graded track along a steep sided valley following Kurpsai stream.

The nearest town and railway station, Tash-Kumyr, is located 31km from the Tokhtazan deposit, whilst the Kurpsai hydro-power station on the Naryn River is situated approximately 18km by road from the deposit.

Historic Exploration
The Tokhtazan gold deposit was discovered in 1974, although it was not until 1987-1992 that significant geological mapping and trenching were undertaken by a State expedition.
The majority of exploration works on the Tokhtazan deposit were carried out from 1995-1999 by “Tien-Shan Gold Company”, a JV between Canadian company Cameco and the state mining group Kyrgyzaltyn. The exploration comprised re-sampling of trenches and bulldozer cuts, diamond drilling, geophysics, mineralogical investigations and metallurgical testwork. A total of 51 holes were drilled and 8,000 trench samples collected. A non-JORC or 43-101 compliant resource of approximately 1 million ounces was estimated as a result of the work.

Other Licences:  Kurpsai
The Kurpsai licence is located 3km southwest of Tokhtazan on the west bank of Kurpsai stream at elevations between 1,700-1,800m. The deposit was subject to detailed geological mapping, geochemical sampling and extensive trenching by the Soviet expeditions during the 1960’s, but no drilling or underground sampling has taken place.

Mineralisation at Kurpsai comprises a series of NW striking steeply dipping structures within a sequence of Upper Proterozoic schists that have been over-thrust by Palaeozoic terrigenous sediments that have subsequently been intruded by diorite. The mineralisation is predominantly hosted by the intrusive rocks. The mineralisation at Kurpsai typically occurs in a series of 1-3m wide, NW striking steeply dipping quartz veins with gold grades at 1-3 g/t within a 1000 x 150m metasomatic aureole. It is possible that the mineralisation at Kurpsai is also thrust controlled and as such increases the exploration potential of the prospect.

Akdjol Exploration Area
The Akdjol gold exploration licence is located approximately 3km north of Tokhtazan at an elevation of between 2,700m to 2,800m. The prospect is geologically similar to the Tokhtazan deposit with Palaeozoic sediments thrust over Proterozoic metavolcanics and intruded by diorite however Akdjol contains significant silver grade.

The mineralisation occurs in a 400m long, NNW striking thrust zone. Individual ore bodies are 2m to 5m wide and occur within zones of intensive brecciation and silicification with pyrite and minor galena, sphalerite, malachite and gold. Oxidation is estimated to exceed 80m depth. Five ore bodies have been delineated by a programme of trenching, pitting and the excavation of short adits. Significant gold intersections from historical trenches include: 6.1m at 7.7g/t, 8.9m at 9.1g/t, 2.4m at 26.9g/t and 2.6m at 13.2g/t.

Exploration Update
Within the ongoing 2008 / 2009 exploration programme, the Company performed 3,140m3 of trenching and road cut sampling, with some 2,532 samples collected. In 2008, the works were focused on the Bulderek occurrence located 3.5 km SSW from the Tokhtazan licence. The works included prospecting, trenching and geophysical exploration:
  • dipole dipole induced polarisation (“DD-IP”) (interval: 50m, depth: 200m, total: 12.8km);
  • magnetic survey (interval: 25m, total: 41.45km);
  • gamma-ray spectrometry (interval: 25m, total: 43.3km).

The 2008 works identified a previously unknown Cu-Au anomalous zone.

Karchiga (volcanic hosted massive sulphide) Copper-Gold Project

Licence Location
The Karchiga Copper-Gold deposit is a mid-Palaeozoic aged metamorphosed volcanic hosted massive sulphide deposit (VHMS) located in the extreme north east of the Republic of Kazakhstan, within 40km of the Chinese border. The project is readily accessible and is situated on gentle undulating terrain.

The Karchiga deposit is located within the north west striking, mid-Palaeozoic, Rudny Altai VHMS terrane, the host of numerous world class VHMS deposits, including the Leninigorsk, Zyryanovsk, Maleevsky and Ridder Sokolnoye deposits. The Rudny Altai is ranked in the top four VHMS belts of the world with over 70Mt of contained metal and forms the eastern limb of the Mugodjar-Rudny Altai arc with the western limb hosting the abundant VHMS deposits of the southern Urals.

Project History
The deposit was originally exploited by Chinese artisans in ancient times and was re-discovered and explored by Soviet geologists during the 1940’s and 50’s. The Soviet era exploration included more than 100 cored drill holes and an exploration shaft into the ore body. The deposit has a historical resource (Non-NI 43-101 Compliant) of 6.3Mt grading 2.77% Cu and 0.8 g/t Au. Lero is required to submit an exploration work programme for the Karchiga deposit and surrounding licence holding.

Project Geology
Mineralisation at Karchiga occurs as shallow dipping tabular bodies of massive and disseminated chalcopyrite-pyrite ranging from 2-25m thick that are hosted by highly metamorphosed amphibolite and gneiss. The deposit appears to be geologically continuous and robust.



Board of Directors and Key Management

Executive Chairman Dr Sergey V Kurzin
Executive Director Mr Takhirzhan Baratov
Director of Exploration Dr Alexander Yakubchuk
Chief Operating Officer Mr Randy Reichert
Chief Financial Officer Mr Petro Mychalkiw
Company Secretary Tania Tchedaeva
Non-Executive Director Mr Mark Corra
Non-Executive Director Mr Hanford
Non-Executive Director Mr Massimo Carello

Company Address

1 Red Place,
London, United Kingdom W1K 6PL

Telephone:+44(0)20 7518 3999
Facsimile:+44(0)20 7518 3998
Email:info[at]orsumetals.com
Website:http://www.orsumetals.com

Additional Address/Key Contact

Press and Investor Enquiries
Gavin Dallas
Investor Relations, London

Tel: +44(0)20 7518 3999
Fax: +44(0)20 7518 3998
E-mail: gdallas@orsumetals.com

Kazakhstan Office
75 Kairbekov Street,
050010
Almaty
Kazakhstan
Tel: +7 7272 917376
Fax: +7 7272 911413

Kyrgyzstan Office
Office 2
33 Razzakova Street
720040
Bishkek
Kyrgyzstan
Tel: + (996) 312 667443
Fax: + (996) 312 667442

Capital

Current Total Issued Share Capital: 456,959,226

Nominated Brokers

Canaccord Adams
Cardinal Place
7th Floor
80 Victoria Street
London
SW1E5JL
United Kingdom

Nominated Advisors

Canaccord Adams
Cardinal Place
7th Floor
80 Victoria Street
London
SW1E5JL
United Kingdom

Major Shareholders

Charlemagne Capital (IOM) Limited 74,694,536

CEDE & Co. 20,433,887

Endeavour Financial Corporation 16,015,075

Total Director's Shareholdings 1,614,500

Related News

27/11/08 - Orsu Metals May Be Down, But It Is Certainly Not Out

Most Recent Statement

24/06/09 - Orsu Metals Corporation Provides Notice of 2009 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders
15/06/09 - Orsu Metals Corporation: Sale of Varvarinskoye Project
04/06/09 - Orsu Metals Corporation Announces Interim Results for the Period Ended 31 March 2009
13/05/09 - Orsu Provides Update on Mineral Exploration Projects
12/05/09 - Orsu Metals Corporation Announces Amendment to Offtake Agreement
27/04/09 - Orsu Metals Corporation: Filing of Annual Financial Statements, MD&A and AIF

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