ACG Metals (LSE: ACG) is buying a Turkish mining licence that contains the Keşkek gold project to double annual copper-equivalent output at the company’s nearby Gediktepe mine to 40,000 tonnes.
The company is to initially pay Meta Nikel Kobalt Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret $4 million for the license and $3.85 million in mid-2027 upon first gold production, the companies said Monday. Production from Keşkek is expected to prolong Gediktepe’s gold production by many years, CEO and Chairman Artem Volynets said.
“This will enable ACG to continue primary gold production in addition to production of copper and zinc concentrates from our own sulphide ores via the flotation facility that we are just starting to ramp up,” Volynets said in a release.
The CEO, a former executive at aluminum giant Rusal, wants acquisitions like Gediktepe in 2024 to build ACG into a multi-asset copper producer. But low metal prices in 2023 thwarted a $1-billion deal for copper and nickel projects backed by Glencore (LSE: GLEN) and London-based Appian Capital Partners. And last year he nixed a potential deal with Azerbaijan-focused producer Anglo Asian Mining (LSE: AAZ).
Infrastructure
The newly acquired Turkish license is for a 666-hectare area with Keşkek, linked by existing ore transportation infrastructure to Gediktepe 70 km away.
ACG will process gold from Keşkek using its heap leach process, which has increased gold recoveries to about 85%.
The company has just produced its first copper concentrate at Gediktepe, marking another step from precious metals and zinc to copper.
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