Chalice Gold Likely to Start Production, Exports From Eritrea in Two Years

Chalice Gold Mines Ltd., an Australian explorer for thsoda ash production process machineriese metal, will begin output at the Koka deposit in Eritrea in two years after spending more than $147 million developing the mine. The company, based in West Perth, expects to begin exports of 104,000 ounces per year in late 2012 or early 2013, Managing Director Doug Jones said in an e-mailed response to questions on Oct. 1.

Shipments over the seven-year life of the mine are expected to total 720,000 ounces, he said. The Horn of Africa country needs funds from mining to support an economy that the International Crisis Group last month described as being in “free fall.” The economy shrank 1.1 percent from 2004 to 2008, according to the International Monetary Fund’s website. “Large-scale gold production, expected to begin in 2010, would improve the state’s foreign-currency position,” the ICG said in the Sept. 21 report. Nevsun Resources Ltd., based in Vancouver, is scheduled to start producing gold, copper and zinc at the Bisha mine later this year.