BARRIE, Ontario - Colorado-based Anatolia Minerals is hoping to grow production at its Çöpler gold project in Turkey to 400 000 oz/y by 2014, CEO Edward Dowling said on Thursday.

The company will produce the first gold by the end of the year, building up to an average of 175 000 oz/y from oxide ores.

The production growth would come from building a plant to process the sulphide ores at the Çöpler (pronounced 'Chirpler') mine in central Turkey. A prefeasibility study into this option would be complete by October, with Anatolia announcing its results in November, Dowling said.

“Our early economic work looks good...If we assume a 95% recovery from the sulphide plant, we could produce around 210 000 oz/t from the sulphide ore,” he told Mining Weekly Online.

The company had not said what the estimated cost of building the sulphide plant would be, but this would be established in the prefeasibility study.

Anatolia said it would produce gold from the oxide ore bodies at a cash cost of around $300/oz. This was at a recovery rate of around 60%.

“Costs on the sulphides will be somewhat higher, but in terms of cash costs, it will sit somewhere in second quarter quartile,” Dowling said.

The construction of a sulphide plant would also take some sulphide ore off of the oxide heap leach pad, allowing for total oxide ore gold production to be expanded by 25% over the extended mine life, he added.

“What we’ll probably do is push life of mine out. We see nice synergy between oxides and sulphides,” said Dowling. Anatolia was hoping to produce the first gold from sulphides in 2013, though the exact timing would be determined by the prefeasibility study.

Construction on the Çöpler gold project, which cost some $200-million, began in the third quarter of 2009.

Anatolia has other gold-copper projects in Turkey, one of which Dowling would like to see “close to production” in five years time.

NO NEED FOR BANKERS

Dowling said he wanted to grow Anatolia to a mid-tier gold producer over the long term, and would consider doing this by building the company’s own projects, as well as potential strategic mergers.

“If we could find the right fit, we would certainly look at that [mergers and acquisitions] if it creates shareholder value,” he said.

“Strategic activity in the business is high. A lot of companies are talking to a lot of companies. 18 months ago it was investment bankers trying to arrange marriages, now its companies are driving it themselves.”

Dowling added there were abut 15 companies that “fit the bill” for potential mergers with Anatolia.

There has been a flurry of merger activity in the junior gold space, with Kinross Gold making a go for Red Back Mining in August, while Lake Shore Gold last year snapped up West Timmins Mining.

Activity has been driven by soaring gold prices, and Dowling is bullish on the future of the yellow metal.

“Is $2 000/oz in the cards? Well it could be, looking at the macro economic challenges we’re faced with,” he said.

Gold was trading at $1 251/oz on Thursday afternoon, not far off its all time high of $1 265/oz it hit in on June 21.

Canada’s Financial Post named Anatolia as one of seven securities most likely to be added to the S&P/TSX composite index, when Standard & Poor’s announces its quarterly rebalancing of the Canada’s benchmark index on September 17 , citing UBS strategist Garry Cooper.

Anatolia was trading up 1,6% on the TSX in Thursday afternoon trade at C$7,48 a share.

Source:miningweekly