Russian billionaire Abramovich eyes new gold reserves |
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Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:57
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MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - The holding company controlled by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich is looking to buy a second gold mine in the Far Eastern province of Chukotka where he is governor, his spokesman said.Millhouse Capital plans to bid for the Vodorazdelnaya Ploshchad gold field in the region, located 6,000 kilometres northeast of Moscow, spokesman John Mann said.The mine's reserves have been estimated at 65 tonnes of gold, the RBK business daily reported, citing the federal subsoil agency, which is organizing the auction on August 8.An official with Sibir Mining, which also plans to participate in the auction, told RBK that the licence would likely cost no more than 4 mln usd, but that the mine could cost over 200 mln usd to develop.Earlier this month, Millhouse bought the Dvoinoe mine in the north of the Chukotka region, which has estimated reserves of 2.79 tonnes of gold.Asked whether gold was a growing priority for the company, Mann said Millhouse was have ry interested in the economic development of Chukotka.'Abramovich, known to many as the billionaire owner of Chelsea football club, has poured hundreds of million of dollars into the region since he took over as governor in 2000.The administration of the region, which is estimated to hold some 10 pct of Russia's gold reserves, says it plans to boost gold output from about five tonnes annually at present to between 15 and 20 tonnes by 2010.tfn.newsdesk@thomson.comcm2/jagCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
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Russian billionaire Abramovich buys gold mine in Chukotka 