SKOPJE (Macedonia), July 24 (SeeNews) – Canada’s EurOmax Resources plans to invest $500 million (413 million euro) in the next five years in its Ilovitza copper-gold project in Macedonia, the government in Skopje said on Tuesday.
The project will open 500 new jobs, the Macedonian government said in a statement after the concession deal for copper and gold exploitation was signed by EurOmax CEO Mark Gustafson and Macedonian economy minister Valon Saracini.
The statement quoted EurOmax Resources president Steve Sharpe as saying that the company plans to start extraction of copper and gold at the site in mid-2017.
In a separate statement, EurOmax Resources said the exploitation concession has an initial term of 30 years and is subject to royalties of 2.0% of the market value of metal contained in concentrate and a land usage fee of 180,000 denars ($3,570/2,920 euro) per square kilometer.
The Canadian company said it is advancing a Preliminary Economic Assessment due to be completed by year-end.
Additionally, in parallel with the development of the PEA, the company is continuing its step out and in-fill drilling programmes and metallurgical test work to advance the Ilovitza project toward a Preliminary Feasibility Study level, which it anticipates completing by mid-2013.
The Ilovitza copper-gold project is located in the municipality of Bosilovo, in southeast Macedonia.
EurOmax is an exploration and development company with three gold and base metal assets in Macedonia, Bulgaria and Serbia.
($=0.8262 euro)