CHINA – Eastern Dragon permit delays

Eldorado Gold’s Eastern Dragon project in China’s northern Heilongjiang province won’t be completed as hoped by the end of the year. Construction of the processing facility is 70% complete, but the company has not yet been given approval to start earthworks for the project’s tailings facility, waste dump and open pit areas.

Eldorado says it is continuing to work with the provincial government on advancing the necessary project permit application and remains confident of a successful outcome. However, due to the early onset of severe winter in the district, the earthworks programs will be delayed until spring 2012. That means the company does not anticipate any gold production from Eastern Dragon until the third quarter of 2012.

“Despite the disappointment associated with not being able to complete construction at Eastern Dragon this year, we are extremely pleased with both the strong performance of our mines which are all operating in accordance with plan and the excellent start up of our Efemcukuru mine in Turkey,” says Eldorado CEO Paul Wright.

The Efemcukuru mine, in Turkey’s Izmir province, is Eldorado’s sixth and most recently commissioned mine, with operations beginning in the second quarter of this year.

In the first quarter of production Efemcukuru produced about 4500 tonnes of concentrate containing about 14,000 ounces of gold. Minimal amounts of gold were recovered in the quarter through the gravity circuit which will be reported as production in quarter four, when commercial production will also be declared.

In other news, the company has entered into a $280 million revolving credit facility with HSBC and four other banks CIBC, Citibank, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of America. “Funds from this corporate facility combined with our strong cash flow will enhance our ability to implement growth initiatives in line with the company's strategic plan of growing opportunities in China, Turkey, Greece and Brazil,” says Paul Wright.

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