Eldorado Gold has signed an agreement for the sale of its interests in White Mountain and Tanjianshan mines and China’s Eastern Dragon development project to Yintai Resources’ affiliate in a deal worth $600m.
The deal marks Eldorado’s exit from the country and follows an agreement in April to sell its 82% interest in the Jinfeng gold mine in southern Guizhou province to China National Gold Group for $300m.
Eldorado Gold president and CEO Paul Wright said: "We are very pleased to have reached this agreement as this transaction recognises immediate value to both companies and its shareholders.
"The proposed transaction provides Yintai the opportunity to build on our achievements in China.
"We look forward to closing the sale of both transactions and advancing our internal project pipeline."
The transaction is subject to securing various approvals and closing conditions and is slated for completion in the third or fourth quarter of this year.
Net proceeds from the sale of Eldorado’s Chinese assets will be redeployed to continue to expand the company’s business.
Eldorado owns a 90% interest in the open-pit Tanjianshan gold mine, which is located in Qinghai province in north-west China.
The mine comprises Qinlongtan and Jinlonggou deposits and expects to process about 1.1 million tonnes of ore at a grade of 2.39g per tonne in this year.
The underground White Mountain gold mine is located in China’s Jilin province and is 95% owned by the company.
Sustaining capital costs at White Mountain are expected to be about $15m this year.
Image: Tanjianshan processing plant. Photo: courtesy of Eldorado Gold Corp.
