ENK (LON:ENK, ASX:ENK) has a strong cash position and it is able to fully-fund the bankable feasibility study for its flagship Acoje project in the Philippines, says chairman Peter Rowe.
In the group’s interim statement today Rowe said he hopes to announce a new JORC resource for Acoje soon, along with new economics for the project.
The key BFS is also on track for completion in the second quarter of 2012, he added. The firm plans to start building work on the site soon after the BFS is complete.
Earlier this week the company announced that test work on its Acoje mining inventory had shown superior recoveries and economics from tank leaching as opposed to heap leaching.
The company added it will now only take the tank leaching option forward into the Bankable Feasibility Study due for completion at the end of the second quarter of 2012.
Managing director Robert Gregory said "Not only does tank leaching offer superior economics, it is an inherently less risky option compared to heap leaching in a high rainfall environment.
“Tank leaching also lends itself to a staged construction approach offering a reduction in initial capital costs and its associated financing. It is for these reasons that we have elected to utilise tank leaching for the BFS."
Meanwhile it said that infill drilling of the resource at Acoje is also now complete and drilling at the Zambales Chromite tenement is approximately 25% complete
Additionally ENK today said that it has now begun the process of selling non-core assets. And it has already entered into agreements for the sale of some copper-gold tenements that were previously owned by Rusina Mining.