In 2006, Sino Gold Limited commissioned SRK to provide an Independent Expert Report on the mines and exploration assets of the company, with the report intended to be submitted to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEx). Sino Gold was already listed on the Australian Stock Exchange but wanted to have a dual listing in Hong Kong. The SRK team inspected and reported on the Jinfeng gold mine and exploration tenements in China, which were owned by the company or were in Joint Venture (JV) with Chinese partners.
The Jinfeng gold mine is located in Guizhou Province, as shown in the map below. Jinfeng had a reserve grade averaging 5.4g/t gold and was to be mined by both open-pit and underground mining methods. The metallurgy of the Jinfeng ore was not straightforward, requiring processing by the bio-oxidation method to achieve good recovery of gold.
The exploration assets included the White Mountain project in Jilin Province, three JVs in Shandong Province and four JVs in the “Golden Triangle,” which is located in the border area of Guizhou and Guangxi Provinces.
The SRK report was tailored to meet the Listing Rule requirements of HKEx and was included by Sino Gold in their prospectus. The listing was successful and Sino Gold became the first mining company jointly listed in Australia and Hong Kong. The White Mountain mine was successfully commissioned in late 2008.
Peter Smith is an Environmental Scientist who previously worked for Sino Gold and SRK China was happy to attract Peter to work for SRK in our Beijing office. Two SRK staff joined Sino Gold in their Sydney office and were part of the exciting period of exploration and operation of both Jinfeng and White Mountain. In 2009, Eldorado Gold of Canada completed a merger and took over management of Sino Gold to create a company with almost 19 million ounces of gold in measured and indicated resources.
