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INVESTMENT
Kingsgate vows long-term role in Thailand
Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn
The Nation


Ross Smyth-Kirk

BANGKOK: -- Kingsgate Consolidated, a major Australian gold mining and exploration company, says it remains committed to investing in its mining business in Thailand.

"We have a long association and believe in Thailand," chairman Ross Smyth-Kirk said yesterday. "We have transferred our world-class practices, especially safety measures and technologies, to Thailand in dealing with local people. We have made a strong effort from Day 1."

Kingsgate owns 48 per cent of its local joint venture Akara Resources, which operates the Chatree Mining Complex, straddling Phichit, Phetchabun and Phitsanulok provinces in the Central region.

Akara Resources' vision is to maintain its position as Thailand's leading gold producer and to continue growing its gold reserves, resource base and production in Thailand, Smyth-Kirk said.

Between its commissioning in November 2001 and June 30, 2013, the mine has produced more than 1.3 million ounces of gold and more than 5.8 million ounces of silver.

Kingsgate has allocated a capital-expenditure budget of more than Bt60 billion to Akara Resources over the past 14 years.

The mine employs about 1,000 operations staff, including subcontractors, with more than Bt2 billion in employment costs over the past 14 years. There are only a few foreign geologists at Chatree's mining operation.

"We see some potential opportunities to invest in Thailand, given that it is located on a well-defined gold belt [and] has a dynamic and skilled mobile labour force, and we see it as the real key to Asia and a leading Asean country," he said.

"We also plan to list Akara Resources on Thailand's stock exchange to allow individual and institutional investors to hold stakes in the company.

"The Thai government has been a breath of fresh air. They have been promoting business opportunities and they seem genuinely interested in getting things moving, particularly the new gold policy.

"We are working very closely with the Department of Primary Industries and Mines and we would like them to expedite the new gold policy to assist with our ongoing licensing commitments and promote some investment opportunities in Thailand for the greater resource sector," Smyth-Kirk said.

Kingsgate has two operating gold mines in Thailand and Australia, as well as two advanced development projects in Australia and Chile.

Chatree is one of the most widely tested and safest mines in the world, the company says. It has won many awards for its best-practice operations and is one of the first mines in the world to become a signatory to the international cyanide code. It has also been awarded the SA8000 - the highest accreditation for corporate social responsibility.

"We have always seen ourselves as guests in Thailand and we respect and value working in a good fruitful relationship with the Thai people," Smyth-Kirk said.

"The gold price is a key driver of maximising the returns of such an investment to the Thai people, and the current gold price unfortunately does not lend itself to realising that potential just yet."

The company has no firm time frame for a return on investment in Thailand.

"However, if we can get the necessary permits to explore and further develop the mine, we have at least another 10 to 15 years in Thailand. We are here for the long haul and have been involved in Thailand for around 28 years," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Kingsgate-vows-long-term-role-in-Thailand-30265582.html


-- The Nation 2015-07-31

[bangkokfrog]

This is the company that owns the mine the government closed down for a period earlier this year due to concerns over the health of nearby villagers. There seems to have been major differences between the findings of an independent report prepared by Mahidol University (the authors of which were told by the new President that they are not allowed to follow up the matter) and local groups supported by none other than bomb disposal expert Porntip Rojanasunan, I was once told that the real issue here is that a local entity bought up a lot of land around the mine for next to nothing, and that Akara refused to buy this land at stupidly inflated prices. However, having lived in LOS for such a long time, I know that such a thing could not possibly be true...

Edited July 31, 2015 by bangkokfrog

[BlackJack]

The price of gold being manipulated by the likes of Morgan ie think derivatives in the trillions effectively means that they may never allow the price of.gold to recover as their little bots are making billions trading paper.gold to themselves. Kingsgate should be under review also as the prior CEO gavin was riddled with cancer and still running the company. In his last.month's he spent s quill ions buying up big silver deposits in other countries. Something that a man in poor health should not have done.

The IPO should have gone through years ago. I hold share but there in the bottom drawer gathering dust.