REUTERS
U.S.-based Avellana Gold has developed a feasibility study for mining of gold and polymetallic gold ore in Zakarpattia, the west of Ukraine, and plans to invest about US$100 million in it, according to the Ukrainian State Geology and Mineral Resources Service.
The company plans to develop new infrastructure and will draw up a development strategy for the Muzhyivske field with the use of modern equipment, the regulator said.
The mining capacity of the Muzhyivske field's old infrastructure is limited to 120,000 tonnes per year.
Nowadays, the investor plans to set up highly efficient production facilities for a long-term outlook with an annual output of 500,000 tonnes of gold.
To achieve this, Avellana Gold plans to mine both gold and polymetallic gold ores. In fact, this will be a new production strategy.
Read alsoUkraine's 2016 exports of titanium ore up 57.1% on yearBrian Savage who chairs the board of directors at Pioneer Management LLC, a private company he founded in 2009 to provide advice and investment in projects and companies in the natural resources sector, is CEO of Avellana Gold, the economic news portal Ekonomichna Pravda wrote.
Mykola Hozhyk heads the Ukrainian representative office of Avellana Gold. He previously worked as chief engineer for Zakarpatpolymetals LLC and was director of Saulyak LLC.
As reported in 2014, a gold mining license for the Muzhyivske deposit was owned by the Carpathian Ore Company, which was controlled by Donetsk businessman Valeriy Bredykhin, a partner of Vitaliy Zakharchenko who was Minister of Internal Affairs during Viktor Yanukovych's presidency.
However, in the same year 2014, the company was re-registered and became a private joint-stock company, without changing its name. Its new owner, according to the state register, was Avellana Gold Ltd., which was registered in New York.
Avellana Gold was reported to have acquired the Carpathian Ore Company in 2016. Details of the deal were not disclosed.
Reports in April 2017 said that Avellana Gold had prepared a request for the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, asking to address information attacks on the Muzhyivske deposit. Its CEO Savage reported about accusations of alleged links between him and ex-minister Zakharchenko, as well as of the illegality of the acquisition of companies with special gold mining permits.
The investor claimed he had no contacts with the former authorities, insisting that Avellana Gold's deal to buy the Carpathian Ore Company fully complied with the law.
The Muzhyivske deposit is the only operating gold mining field in Ukraine.
As of today, it has 55 tonnes of gold, 1 million tonnes of zinc and lead in explored reserves. In monetary terms, these are almost US$3.8 billion.
There is also a waste rock depository in its territory with one tonne of gold mined and 4.5 tonnes of silver. In monetary terms, these are about $32 million and $3 million, respectively.