Second group bids for IG mine contract

Vancouver-based Indochina Goldfields (ING-T) has received a second offer for the financing and construction of its Monywa copper project in Myanmar.

The proposal combines financing from Daewoo Corp., a major Korean firm, with engineering and construction management from Kilborn-SNC Lavalin. Terms of the proposal include a US$90-Million loan to finance construction of the project’s first phase, a US$80-Million engineering procurement and construction contract, and a long-Term sales agreement covering copper cathode to be produced during the first seven years of production.

In June, Indochina Goldfields (IG) received a proposal from a syndicate of large Japanese trading houses led by the Marubeni Corp. That proposed deal included a US$90-Million loan, a US$77-Million lump-sum engineering procurement and construction contract, and a long-Term sales agreement covering copper cathode to be produced during the first 10 years of production.

IG has delivered both proposals to Mining Enterprise No. 1, its 50% joint-Venture partner in Monywa, for consideration. Mining Enterprise is wholly owned by the government of Myanmar.

Says Indochina Goldfields President Edward Flood: “Either of the [proposals] will keep the project on track to commence Phase 1 production in mid-1998, with full commercial production at 25,000 tonnes of copper cathode [annually] reached by year-end 1998.”

The joint venture plans to develop an open-pit mine on the Sabetaung and Kyisintaung deposits near the town of Monywa in the central plains of Myanmar. A feasibility study on Phase II of the Monywa project indicates cash operating costs of US48 cents per lb. and working capital costs of US$300 million.