Kolar Gold

Kolar Gold Limited (Kolar Gold) is a gold exploration and development company, incorporated in Guernsey and focused primarily on the Kolar Gold Field region to the east of Bangalore in India.  The Group was established in 1997 to secure and revive the Kolar Gold Fields operated by Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML) in joint venture with the local workforce and community.  As the timing of any decision regarding the sale of the Kolar Gold Fields was uncertain, in order to diversify the Company’s strategy, management approached Geomysore Services India (GMSI) in 2009 to form a strategic partnership to develop the Kolar Gold Projects which surround and are adjacent to the Kolar Gold Fields. 

Kolar Gold has the exclusive option to acquire 100% title to three tenement groups of the Kolar Gold Project, being one already granted Prospecting Licence, and staggered applications for six further Prospecting Licences, four Mining Leases and three Reconnaissance Permits in the Kolar Gold Belt.  The exercise of Kolar Gold's options will be subject to the Government's approvals and be in accordance with Government Rules & Regulations.

The Kolar Gold Projects have been divided geographically into three tenement groups, being the North, South and East Kolar blocks and straddle the states of Andra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.  Lithological, structural and geochemical characters similar to the historic BGML mine site are found within these project areas and it is concluded that these represent continuations of the Greenstone Belt.

Mining at Kolar Gold Field’s has operated for over 120 years and produced approximately 25M oz of gold at an average grade of 15.9 g/t.  BGML mined near vertical lodes over a strike length of 7.3 km to a maximum dept of 3200 metres and developed 1400 km of tunnels and 100 shafts.

During the first two decades of mining (1884 – 1904) the average grade of the ore produced was 45 g/t Au.  During the subsequent century, the grade of the ore mined decreased to 2.5 g/t Au.  The mine became uneconomic in the late 1990’s due to poor management, exploration, underinvestment, and the focus on labour-intensive deep underground mining leading to the abandonment of mining operations in 2001.

Location

The Kolar Gold projects, over which Kolar Gold has an exclusive option, are located approximately 70km east of the major city of Bangalore, India. The area is easily accessible by both road and rail from Bangalore via the regional centre of Kolar which lies 27km north west of the Kolar Gold Fields.

South Kolar

The South Kolar tenements consists of one granted Prospecting Licence (GP-13), one further application for a Prospecting Licence, three Mining Lease applications (although one of these, over the Chigargunta mine, is subject to competition and is therefore not included in the South Kolar resource estimate) and two Reconnaissance Permit applications.  Other than the Chigargunta mine, in total there are at least 13 prospects with identified gold mineralisation and the Mallapokonda mine covered by the granted PL and outstanding applications.

South Kolar straddles Andhra Pradesh in the north and Tamil Nadu in the south and covers the extension of the Kolar Gold Belt to the south of the BGML Mine.  It lies on a north-south trending and almost continuous zone of gold mineralisation which extends from Bisanatham in the north (although the old Bisanatham Mine, is part of BGML and therefore falls outside of GP-13) to Mallappakonda and Chigargunta (also in Andhra Pradesh) and Maharajagadai in Tamil Nadu.

Kolar Gold has a highly qualified board and senior management team with extensive experience in the exploration, evaluation and development of gold projects, together with a wealth of capital markets and board level expertise.

North Kolar

The North Kolar Region includes two applications for Prospecting Licences (GP-2 and GP-67, of which GP-2 has Preferential Right and is the main focus of KG) and one application for a Reconnaissance Permit (JR-3) where there is a competitive application.  

The North Kolar area extends north from the Kolar Gold Fields as far as the interpreted extent of the Greenstone Belt.

Kolar Gold has a highly qualified board and senior management team with extensive experience in the exploration, evaluation and development of gold projects, together with a wealth of capital markets and board level expertise.

East Kolar

The East Kolar Region includes three applications for Prospecting Licences (GP-33, GP-59 and GP-68, of which GP-33 is the main focus of KG) and one application for a Mining Lease (ML-15) which covers the Surapalle prospect within GP-33.  

The Surapalle prospect includes the historic Surapalle mine which is adjacent to the BGML Mine and if and when GP-33 is granted, it is the Surapalle area on which the Directors intend to commence detailed exploration.

Kolar Gold has a highly qualified board and senior management team with extensive experience in the exploration, evaluation and development of gold projects, together with a wealth of capital markets and board level expertise.

Harvinder Hungin - Non-Executive Chairman 

Mr Hungin, an investment banker from 1984 to 2002, started at Lazard & moved to Hambros in 1991 where he was appointed director in 1994. At Hambros he also oversaw the bank’s activities in India.  In 1998, Societe Generale acquired Hambros and Mr Hungin  was appointed Managing Director in investment banking and member of the European M&A Operations Committee. 

In 2004 Mr Hungin led the take-private of Chelsfield plc, one of the UK's largest property investment and development companies which had a transaction value of £1.8bn.  He went on to jointly establish a £400m fund to invest in Global Switch, the world's largest data centre company, owned by Chelsfield plc.  Other projects undertaken by Mr Hungin include the Stratford Olympic site and the Westfield shopping centre in West London.

In 2005 Mr Hungin co-founded Chelsfield Partners LLP, which invested in assets in the UK and central and western Europe.  He exited from property in May 2007 and has been developing a portfolio of diversified business interests, including the formation of an infrastructure development vehicle in India.

He is currently Chairman of Orbitsound Ltd and waste2greenenergy Ltd.

Nicholas Spencer – Chief Executive Officer

Mr Spencer joined the board of KG plc in 2004 and has experience in building businesses in mining, logistics, aerospace and engineering services with multinational companies in Australia, the UK, Asia and the Middle East.

He has 25 years experience in international business including mine build and revival, open pit mining, equipment purchase and mine finance.  He was responsible for the management of a $125 million new mine in Egypt and spent more than seven years with BHP managing operations and business development in Australia.  Mr Spencer also spent many years in Asia establishing joint ventures for TNT Limited.

He is an engineer with an MBA from Cranfield UK who has held senior executive positions with BHP, TNT, Meggitts Aerospace, Babcock Contractors, and co-founded private equity fund manager Crescent Capital Partners.  

Richard Johnson – Chief Operating Officer

Mr Johnson is a qualified mining engineer and a fellow of AusIMM.  He joined Kolar Gold plc in a non-executive role in 2001 was appointed an executive director in 2010 with the responsibility of leading the on-ground activities of Kolar Gold and operational aspects of arrangements with GSMI in India.

Mr Johnson has over 40 years of mining experience with Australian and international mining companies, gaining exposure to a number of commodities with particular emphasis on the gold sector.  He held various production management positions in Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Co Limited ("JCI") at its gold and platinum mines between 1973 and 1979.  Whilst with JCI, Mr Johnson also worked in the group's Finance Division responsible for the financial modelling and valuation of new capital projects.

Mr Johnson has held a number of executive positions in mining companies including Golden Dumps (Pty) Limited in South Africa; DRD Gold Limited; Emperor Mines Limited, and Allied Gold.  He has a long association with Australia, Papua New Guinea and South Africa developing underground & open pit gold mines and tailings resources and has worked closely with government authorities, administrative bodies and the financial sector as well as consultants, contractors and onsite management.

Shiv Khemka - Non-Executive Director

Mr Khemka was educated at Eton College, received a BA from Brown University, an MBA with distinction from The Wharton School and a Master's in International Studies from The Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania.

Mr Khemka is Vice Chairman of SUN Group, a private investment group active in several transforming markets around the world, with a particular focus on Russia and India.  The Group is a leading principal and private equity investor across various industries including Oil and Gas, Mining, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Technology and Consumer Goods.  

SUN Group is a member of the Russian Prime Minister's Foreign Investment Advisory Council (FIAC).  Mr Khemka is also Chairman of the Board of SUN Gold which is the Group's holding company for its gold assets in Russia and Kazakhstan.

Stephen Coe - Non-Executive Director

Mr Coe qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in 1990 and remained in audit practice, specialising in financial services until 1997.  From 1997 to 2003 he was a director of the Bachmann Group of fiduciary companies and Managing Director of Bachmann Fund Administration Limited, a specialist third party fund administration company.

From 2003 to 2006 Stephen was a director with Investec in Guernsey and Managing Director of Investec Trust (Guernsey) Limited and Investec Administration Services Limited.  

He became self employed in August 2006 providing services to financial services clients and is a director of a number of listed and unlisted investment funds and offshore companies including Raven Russia Limited, Matrix European Real Estate Investment Trust Limited, ACP Capital Limited and Trinity Capital PLC (and serves as  Chairman of the Audit Committee for these companies).  

 Mr Coe has been involved with offshore investment funds and managers since 1990 with significant exposure to property, debt, emerging markets and private equity investments.

Stephen Oke - Non-Executive Director

Mr Oke holds a BSc Honours degree in Geology from the University of Southampton and an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand Graduate School of Business.  He has 35 years experience in the mining and metals industry of which some 12 years were spent in various operational management positions for the National Coal Board, Anglovaal Ltd, BP Coal, and Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company Limited.  

Subsequently he has held senior positions in the investment banking industry for Smith New Court, Merrill Lynch, NM Rothschild and Sons and Standard Bank, specialising in the metals and mining sector where he advised on a number of transactions and equity capital fund raisings worldwide.

He is a non-executive director of International Ferro Metals Limited, African Mining & Exploration plc and Shaft Sinkers Holdings plc and was previously on the boards of Nikanor plc, Katanga Mining Limited and Kazakhgold Group Limited.

% Holdings Number Of Shares Name Of Shareholder

17.66 12,080,000 Citicorp Nominees Pty Limited

8.53 5,833,119 SUN Mining & Exploration Limited

6.25 4,272,500 Pershing Nominees Limited

5.61 3,838,694 India Gold Limited

4.87 3,333,333 Nortrust Nominees Limited

4.39 3,000,000 Credit Suisse First Boston Client Nominees Limited

4.09 2,800,000 Pacific International Management Inc

Total Shares In Issue:  100,107,019

Shares not in public hands: 22.1%

Significant shareholders holding 3% or more:

% Holdings Name Of Shareholder

12.1 Grafton Resources Investments Limited

8.7 Baker Steel Capital Managers

6.5 Jupiter Asset Management Limited

5.8 SUN Mining and Exploration Limited

3.8 India Gold Limited