Eurasia Mining (LON:EUA) said its investments could soon be paid back with the currently awaited granting of the production license over its West Kytlim alluvial platinum project, with yet no revenues to compensate for its £2.25 million pre-tax loss posted in 2009.
Pre-tax losses for the year amounted to £2.25 million compared to £0.83 million in 2008, largely due to an impairment charge of £1.12 million.
The company is currently awaiting the granting of a production license over its West Kytlim project in the Urals, which it said would mark the culmination of many years of exploration work on the alluvial platinum project, allowing it to develop a mine that could quickly pay back the investment with “modest” capital commitments. The terms of the production license will determine the scale of profitability of the mine and the economics of the project will be impossible to calculate until then.
Eurasia's discovery at the West Kytlim area followed from some preliminary pitting which identified buried placers below the overburden alongside some previously mined placers. In addition, early mining and dredging can be inefficient, and Eurasia believes that potentially viable platinum grades exist in tailings from the older operations.
The company said that drilling information alone was not sufficient to allow calculation of in-situ resources, and drill hole values for the mineralized intervals were composited in assessing the economic potential of an area. Nine areas within the Tylai-Kosvinsky placer have been explored so far with an exploration update due shortly.
A drilling programme is planned for this year at Eurasia’s PGM (platinum group of metals) projects on the Kola peninsula, also in Russia. Last year’s drilling campaigns at Volchetundra and Monchetundra resulted in the identification of a new potentially mineralized zone at the latter.
Eurasia holds two projects in the Kola Peninsula in northwest Russia. Anglo Platinum Limited earned a 40% interest in the project by expending US$10 million on exploration works from 2006 to 2009. Eurasia is seeking a new partner for the projects but is also considering a drill program for 2010.