Ihor Liski, a businessman and a Chairman of the Board of Effective Investments Group, announced the start of gold mining in Nicaragua in the San Albino project of Mako Mining Corp. listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
“The project at the San Albino mine, which was attended by private investors, has started, and I think that by the end of the second quarter we will debrief this in a report,” he told Interfax-Ukraine during the opening of the protein supplements plant Feednova (Busk, Lviv region).
Mako Mining previously said that in the second half of May, all components of the 500 tonnes per day gravity and carbon carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing plant were fully operational and the plant was reaching over 75% of rated capacity. Processing of raw materials with an average gold grade of 16.5 grams per tonne began on May 12, 2021, but the exact data will be provided later.
“[…] provided that the processing plant continues averaging these levels for the remainder of the quarter, Mako expects to be in a position to declare commercial production on July 1, 2021,” the company said.
It said that an average of 982 tonnes per day of raw material have been mined since the beginning of April. The stockpile is now approximately 105,856 tonnes and is comprised of 17,596 tonnes of diluted vein material at 15.37 grams per tonne gold and 88,260 tonnes of historical dump material at 2.47 grams per tonne gold for a total of 15,687 ounces of gold.
Mako Mining also said that the company’s cash balance, which had decreased due to the about five-week delay in the plant’s start-up, has now begun to improve as gold is being sold. “Provided that the plant continues to operate at its current throughput, the company expects to generate enough cash flow from operations to continue funding exploration and servicing debt,” the company said in a report on May 20, adding that a comprehensive operating update is expected in July.
In the summer of 2016, Liski announced on Facebook that he was building a gold mine in Nicaragua, but currently it is about open pit mining.
According to Mako Mining’s presentation, its main shareholders are funds managed by Wexford Capital LP – 51.8%, management and directors – 8.2%, Stephens Investment Management – 4.1%, and another 35.9% belong to other shareholders. Interfax-Ukraine has not yet obtained information on the amount of Liski’s participation in this project.
According to the presentation, it is about a project in the Nueva Segovia region, 173 km north of Managua, and plans to double processing capacity in 2022. Measured and indicated mineral resources are 95,400 ounces with a grade of 9.54 grams per tonne, and inferred ones are 62,000 ounces with a grade of 8.5 grams per tonne.
The market capitalization of the company from March to June increased from $166.7 million to $219.2 million, debt remained at $21.5 million, and free cash decreased from $1.4 million to $1 million.
The Eastern Partnership Summit will take place in December, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell said in Brussels on Thursday following a meeting with the foreign ministers of the three Eastern Partnership countries – Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
The ministers of the three countries visited the EU capital for the first time in the format of the so-called Associated Trio.
“This year is an important year for the Eastern Partnership. Together with the Commission, we are in the process of finalizing the post-2020 agenda, which contains concrete deliverables and targets. Our Eastern Partnership summit will take place in December. I understand that all of us are sorry for the fact that it has [previously] been postponed, as has also happened with other summits. But in December, when this summit will take place, we will have an opportunity to set this new agenda in motion, and to agree on a common vision for the future,” he said.
Borrell said the EU is looking forward to further development of relations with the countries of the Eastern Partnership, which are “based on the principles of inclusivity and differentiation. Both have to be taken together and this will require flexibility from both parts.”
TOP 20 COUNTRIES UKRAINE HAS POSTED THE HIGHEST SURPLUS OF TRADE IN GOODS JAN-MARCH 2021 (THSD USD)
PASSENGERS CARRIED IN JAN-MARCH OF 2021, IN MLN
The Board of Directors of Ferrexpo with assets in Ukraine has approved the early repayment of its outstanding pre-export finance facility (PXF facility) the agreement on which was signed in 2018. As at December 31, 2020, the group had $257 million of debt drawn on its PXF facility.
The company said on Wednesday that repayment is to take place today, while earlier repayment was scheduled to take place quarterly between 2020 and 2022.
Early repayment of this facility reflects the strong performance of the group’s operations, including recent growth in both the group’s production volumes and product quality, following the recent completion of investments throughout the group’s operations, representing prudent cash management practice.
The total wage arrears in Ukraine in May of this year fell by 6.1%, and as of June 1, 2021 amounted to UAH 3.351 billion, and since early 2021 they grew by 28.3%, the State Statistics Service said last week.
According to the service, the amount of wage arrears at enterprises that stopped filing reports during 2019-2020 amounted to UAH 166.1 million on the same date.
As reported by the statistics authority, a reduction in wage arrears in May 2021 was recorded in Luhansk (by 73.7%), Volyn (by 49%), Lviv (by 21.7%), Donetsk (by 17.5%), Kirovohrad (by 9.5%) and Chernihiv (by 2.9%) regions.
At the same time, an increase in wage arrears was seen in Khmelnytska (by 36.8%), Zakarpattia (by 19.8%), Cherkaska (by 14.5%), Kherson (by 12.7%), Zaporizhia (by 12.6%), Ivano-Frankivsk (by 11.7%), Vinnytsia (11.3%), Zhytomyr (10.5%), Rivne (8.3%), Dnipropetrovsk (7.4%), Kyiv and Ternopil (6.4%) %), Odesa (5.2%) regions and Kyiv city (0.7%).
The State Statistics Service said that among economic sectors in May 2021, wage arrears grew in in the field of administrative and support services – by 21.9% (to UAH 17.93 million), financial and insurance activities – by 20% (to UAH 0.23 million), agriculture – by12.9% (to UAH 74.52 million), in real estate transactions – by 12.5% (to UAH 41.04 million), education – by 12.5% (to UAH 20.59 million), in wholesale and retail trade – by 11% (to UAH 40.26 million), professional, scientific and technical activities – by 7% (to UAH 274.27 million), at transport, warehouse and courier enterprises – by 4.8% (to UAH 193.72 million), in the field of informatization and telecommunications – by 4.2% (to UAH 15.91 million), and construction – by 2.4% (to UAH 84.14 million).
At the same time, in the field of art, sports, entertainment and recreation, wage arrears decreased 10% (to UAH 1.74 million), in industry – 9.6% (to UAH 2.506 billion), in the field of temporary accommodation and catering 7.7% (to UAH 1.89 million), healthcare – 3.7% (to UAH 69.72 million), public administration, defense and compulsory social insurance – 2.3% (to UAH 5.38 million).
