Euromax Resources Ltd., 16th August 2017 (TSX: EOX; OTCQX: EOXFF): ("Euromax" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce a management restructuring to facilitate the timely and efficient development of its Ilovica-Shtuka Copper-Gold Project in Macedonia (the “Project”).
Martyn Konig, currently Chairman, will become Executive Chairman and assume management responsibility for the overall day-to-day activities of the Company. This will allow the Management team to concentrate on the permitting, construction preparation and financing activities. In particular, Steve Sharpe, President and CEO, having made positive progress in liaising with the newly formed government of the Republic of Macedonia, will be primarily focused on securing the last remaining permits for the construction of the Project. Since coming to power in early June this year, the new government has provided a stable political environment and been supportive of the Project in recognition of the important contribution it can make to the national and local economies. Patrick Forward, Chief Operating Officer, will continue to manage the engineering, design and construction of the Project through the anticipated EPC contract with Ausenco, as announced in February of this year and Varshan Gokool, Chief Financial Officer, will be focused on the funding of the business and the construction finance plan.
Commenting on the announcement, Martyn Konig, Executive Chairman, stated:“I am pleased to be even more involved with the management of Euromax and to ensure the team is absolutely focused on securing the final construction permits and finalising finance plans for the Ilovica-Shtuka Project. By adding to and capitalising on the varied skills within the Management team we can ensure the timely completion of these activities to deliver a robust Ilovica-Shutka Project as quickly as possible.”
We aim to maximise local development by empowering communities, and to act with the highest ethical standards when managing the wellbeing and prosperity of host communities.
The overall objective of our socio-economic development programme is to improve the opportunities, benefits, and quality of life for our local employees, their families and immediate communities.
Euromax is already contributing to the socio-economic development of the communities through direct investments in the communities, which will be further intensified in the future with the development of the project.
Some of our projects are listed below.
Ilovica & Shtuka water wells
Euromax funded the construction of two new water wells situated in Ilovica and Shtuka villages. The wells are used for providing drinking water to the surrounding community. The project brings long-term, sustainable benefits to the local community as it provides drinking water for a big part of the population from Ilovica and Shtuka. The construction of these wells also improved the social life of the local inhabitants as it is a nice place where they usually have a chat. To complete the construction of the wells, Euromax Resources appointed a local building contractor to carry out the work
Baba Vanga Fountain in Novo Selo
The Baba Vanga fountain was one of our key projects in 2013 as the fountain is a long-term, sustainable benefit to the region that preserves cultural heritage for many generations. We were also able to support local business by appointing a local construction company to complete the work. Euromax appointed a local construction company to complete the building work in 2013. We see importance in supporting the cultural heritage of the local region for the benefit of the wider community over the long term. Today, the well is a meeting point, memorial and a focal point for pilgrimage and we hope that this fountain will continue to attract visitors in the future.
School presentations and sports sponsorship
Supporting the local school and educational initiatives is of high priority for the company – we see huge value in building upon social capital by encouraging knowledge and understanding of key topics from a young age and look forward to collaborating with the school in the future to build awareness for the importance of topics such as environmental protection.
We also seek to promote an active and healthy lifestyle and support the school in their initiatives to do the same, promoting a healthy balance between sporting and classroom activities. We hope that the older students will inspire the younger students to be more involved in team sports as they grow up.
New village square in Ilovica
The development of the new sports hall at the St Cyril and Methodius school in Ilovica was a collaboration between the Ministry of Education, the Agriculture and Rural development agency and the Municipality of Bosilovo who were responsible for new grass, pavements and parking spaces. Euromax supported the municipality in making the project a reality by working with a local construction company to construct paved access paths and landscaping of the grassed areas of the area in front of the school and the sports hall.
Support for the ‘Rusalii-Folklore’ cultural event
We are pleased to support the cultural heritage of the region and understand the importance of the annual ‘Rusalii-folklore’ festival during which music is played and the traditional ‘Rusalii’ dance takes centre stage.
New water pipeline in Novo Selo
Euromax started a project to support the municipality of Novo Selo in building of a new water pipeline that connects the existing water supply network with the new reservoir in the village of Mokrino.
Sponsorship of traditional clothes and shoes for CAA “Kavaldjii-Shtuka”
We value the efforts of the local association in preserving the tradition and the cultural heritage of the region and we are pleased to support them to continue with their activities and motivate them in order to achieve even more successful and extraordinary performances in future.
Ongoing longer-term projects:
Water reticulation network reconstruction – The planning and development of a supply of water for the mine provided us with information about the potential to improve the reliability and quality of drinking water to the local communities of Ilovica and Shtuka. Euromax started a project to provide support to the Bosilovo municipality in designing and reconstruction of the reticulation system with aim to complete the reconstruction of the entire network in the villages of Ilovica and Shtuka. The project is to replace the water supply distribution network in Ilovica and Shtuka and abandon the existing water supply intakes in cooperation with Bosilovo municipality. Residents of both villages will be permanently connected to the treated water supply system for household (drinking) water. The existing irrigation supply pipe network owned and operated by Strumichko Pole Water Management Company will also be extended to supply those in Ilovica and Shtuka who have need for irrigation water from the Ilovica Reservoir. In future, sewage collection and treatment will also need to be considered to avoid harmful effects on the environment, including groundwater, streams and river.
Sapling Nursery – Native species will be required for progressive rehabilitation of land in the future. This was discussed with the Belasica Forestry Management Company which has a nursery for growing native species. The collaboration with them has been already established through the Euromax’s financial support for purchasing supplies for refurbishment of their nursery.
Supporting the Macedonia 2025 organisation
Euromax is pleased to join and support Macedonia 2025 in achieving their goals of contributing to the economic, social and educational development of Macedonia providing more opportunities for young professionals and potential businessmen to develop their skills and their talent, as this is the starting point to boost the Macedonian economy. Macedonia 2025 is an international, independent and nonpartisan organisation that proactively contributes to the economic and democratic development of Macedonia by implementing education programs that accelerate leadership development and organising various events, economic summits and business forums.
The Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) is an assessment of the potential environmental and social impacts of the Ilovica Project. It is based on the Ilovica Project Feasibility Study project design and detailed environmental and social surveys and baseline studies.
It meets all Macedonian national regulations and is part of the application package required by the Macedonian authorities for the issuance of a full Exploitation Permit for the Ilovica Project.
► Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)► EIA Non-Technical Summary
The international Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) has been prepared to fulfil the requirements of Euromax's lenders and equity partners. It has been prepared in line with EBRD's Performance Requirements and IFC's Performance Standards and associated legislation and good practice guidance. A suite of Management Plans is in preparation which address the implementation of mitigation measures identified in the Macedonian EIA and the ESIA, as well as meeting local regulatory requirements and stakeholder concerns.
The ESIA document and Non Technical Summary are provided below:
Bright and early on the first day of PDAC 2017, it was standing room only at the “Metal Riches of the Western Tethyan Belt” session, which began with Pat Forward, COO of Euromax Resources, introducing the ‘3 pillars’ of projects in this region: resource quality, skilled people and a low-cost setting.
He passed the microphone to Mac Canby, VP Eurasia Exploration for Freeport McMoRan, to discuss the metallogeny of the region. Among several memorable lines was Mac’s comparison of the Western Tethys to the Cordillera – but like an accordion, twisted and bunched instead of smooth!
The country talks began with Serbia, with Trade Commissioner Djurdja Ceramilac providing an detailed overview of the business environment and incentives available for miners in the country, including reduced taxes and administrative burdens, the double taxation agreement and more. Frazer Bourchier, COO of Nevsun, then took the mic to speak on his company’s project Timok project, which is anticipated to add 300% to growth in copper production in the next 4-5 years, with the Upper Zone pre-feasibility underway and Lower Zone drilling by early 2018. Teo Dechev, CEO of Mundoro followed, highlighting her company’s extensive and prospective land holdings and exploration projects across Serbia and Bulgaria. Mundoro is carried through commercial production on its Timok North projects through the JOGMEC joint venture.
Bulgaria was up next, with Richard Gosse, SVP Exploration for Dundee Precious Metals, describing a country offering stability, a rich mining history, regulatory transparency and prospectivity. Continuing to a discussion of Dundee’s projects, he noted that Chelopech’s operating results were in the upper end of guidance for 2016 at 38.5Mlbs copper and 166koz gold at cash costs of $610 per ounce gold sold, and an ongoing focus on optimization through innovation. Meanwhile, earthworks were commenced at Krumovgrad in late 2016 with this project anticipated to produce 86koz gold annually over 8 years.
The Honourable Vladimir Peshevski, Deputy Prime Minster of Macedonia spent the next few minutes discussing the country’s economic strategy, which includes creating macroeconomic stability through GDP growth, low indebtedness and low inflation, as well as reforms to create an investment-friendly environment. As a result of this strategy, Macedonia has improved its standing to #1 in Continental Europe and #10 in the World in the World Bank’s 2017 “Ease of Doing Business” rankings. Euromax’ Dimitar Dimitrov, Executive Director of Euromax Exploration Services, then outlined the discovery of the Illovica-Shtuka copper-gold porphyry deposit, followed by host Pat Forward, who highlighted the simplicity of project, which benefits from a 1:1 open pit strip ratio, crush-grind-flotation process with truck transport to the Pirdop smelter in Bulgaria, low costs and a natural gold-copper hedge.
We then had a triple mix of Turkish projects, beginning with Han Ilhan, CEO of Aldridge, who first provided an overview of the country, which offers a productive and low cost labour pool as well as investment incentives, and which is ranked the #1 gold producer in Europe, having developed over 10 mines in the past 15 years. Han then spoke about Aldridge’s Yenipazar project, a high grade open pit VMS polymetallic deposit in central Turkey, which boasts low capital and operating costs and upside potential with nearly 90% of the property unexplored. Alamos’ Mehtap Ozcan, Manager of Exploration, then took the stage to discuss the Kirazli, Agi Dagi and Camyurt gold projects, located on the far west of Turkey, which boast almost 2Moz in total Reserves. Eric Roth, COO of Mariana Resources, then proceeded to discuss the hot topic of the session, the Hot Maden gold-copper project. Located at the far east end of Turkey, Hot Maden has an IRR of 153%, with gold-equivalent grades of 15 g/t and over 3.4 Moz in Indicated Resources, with a pre-feasibility study and further drilling underway.
The Hon. Vardan Gevorgyan, Deputy Minister of Energy, Infrastructure and Natural Resources spoke about mining in Armenia, which sees the sector as an opportunity to strengthen its economy and both recover and develop other feeder industries. The country already has 10 operating mines, and offers skilled professionals, streamlined and clear regulatory processes as well as a transparent royalty structure and a competitive tax regime. Lydian International’s Hayk Aloyan, Managing Director of Lydian Armenia, presented the final corporate talk, highlighting the Amulsar gold project’s annual production of 225koz at all-in costs of US$585/oz with an IRR of over 21.6% at today’s prices and over 2.6Moz gold in reserves. The project is currently in construction, having been discovered initially from the road side as a highly visible alteration.
Pat Forward thanked the group in closing, drawing cards for wine and brandy door prizes, sourced from the Ezimit Winery in Macedonia. Many lingered to stay on for further discussions on the Western Tethys, a popular topic for over 200 people in attendance that Sunday morning at PDAC!
Euromax Resources Ltd., Vancouver, 14th March 2017 (TSX: EOX; OTCQX: EOXFF): ("Euromax" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the “Private Placement”) of 3,325,582 common shares of the Company at a price of C$0.43 per share to a consortium of investors for net proceeds of C$1.43 million. The Company has also issued 166,279 shares to a third party finder as a commission related to the Private Placement.
The securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the closing date of the Private Placement, in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.
Euromax Resources Ltd., 10th March 2017 (TSX: EOX; OTCQX: EOXFF): ("Euromax" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement (the “Private Placement”) of 3,325,582 common shares of the Company at a price of C$0.43 per share to a consortium of investors for net proceeds of C$1.43 million. The Company will also issue 166,279 shares to a third party finder as a commission related to the Private Placement.
The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Private Placement for development of its flagship Ilovica-Shtuka project and for general working capital purposes. Closing of the Private Placement is subject to the receipt of all necccary regulatory approvals, including approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange. Any securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the closing date of the Private Placement, in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.
Date: Sunday, March 5, 2017
Time:8:00am - 12:00pm
Location: Metro Toronto Convention Centre North Building | Room 206D
Euromax (or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that the Company will be hosting a presentation session at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention in Toronto on March 5, 2017.
The session titled “Metal Riches of the Western Tethyan Belt” will focus on the western segment of the Tethyan Belt, bringing together companies active in the region and country representatives to discuss the metal wealth of the region and respective business climates.
Euromax will present the Ilovica-Shtuka copper/gold project in Macedonia as well as the exploration expertise within its subsidiary in Bulgaria.
The Company invites all interested parties to attend the presentations and to learn more about the significant recent discoveries and development projects in Eastern Europe.
For more information, please visit the following link.
23rd February 2017 – Vancouver, British Columbia. Euromax Resources Ltd ("Euromax" or the "Company") (TSX:EOX) (OTCQX:EOXFF) is pleased to provide an update with respect to its wholly owned Ilovica-Shtuka copper gold project in Macedonia, (the “Project”).
Permitting
Two key milestones have been achieved towards the granting of the exploitation permit. The first is the merger of the Company’s two exploitation concessions, Ilovica 6 and Ilovica 11 (over which the Ilovica-Shtuka Project footprint extends), that has been approved by the Macedonian Ministry of Economy and submitted to the Government for ratification.
The second milestone is the approval of the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment by the Macedonian Ministry of Environment within the process of the urbanization of the mine footprint.
An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) produced by Golder Associates to international standards and requirements has also been prepared. This follows the Macedonian Environmental Impact Assessment published last year and will facilitate project financing and requirements of various project stakeholders. The ESIA will be published on the Company's website during March 2017.
Capital ExpenditureMine Planning and Contract Mining
Following additional mine plan work completed during 2016 aimed at achieving a mine schedule with the required detail to start planning of operations, the Company initiated a Contract Mining tender process in November 2016. The tender was aimed at covering the first 7 years of mine life (i.e. the 2-year construction and pre-strip period plus 5 years of operation).
As a result of this tender process, the Company has received indicative offers from three international companies for the provision of Contract Mining Services. The Company is currently evaluating these bids, seeking clarifications and assessing the economic impact. However, the average cost per tonne mined of material during production from the bids received is US$ 1.79/t of material moved with capex of approximately US$ 58.5m (including prestrip costs), compared to the Company’s Feasibility Study Technical Report (February 2016), which indicated US$ 1.62/t and capex of US$ 100.7m (including prestrip costs) over the same period.
Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contract (“EPC”)
The Company has agreed to a binding Memorandum of Understanding (the “MoU”) with Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. (“Ausenco”) for further initial detailed engineering and design and a framework to allow Ausenco to proceed through a two-step process to ultimately provide the Company with a Lump Sum Turnkey Price for the construction of the process plant and related infrastructure for the Project.
The first step is for Ausenco, on an open book basis, to provide the Company with a Guaranteed Maximum Price (“GMP”) based on an agreed scope of work within 90 days of commencing the work to do so. Following the delivery of the GMP, provided only that the GMP is at or below the Project capital expenditure as per the Company’s Feasibility Study Technical Report, Ausenco would proceed with the second step in preparing and negotiating with the Company a Lump Sum Turnkey EPC contract for the development of the Ilovica-Shtuka Project, the substantial terms of which are included in the MOU.
As per the MOU, the cost of Ausenco’s work to deliver the GMP will be settled through the issuance of Euromax shares to Ausenco, at a premium to the share price immediately prior to delivery and announcement of the GMP. Based on the current market price, the amount of common shares to be issued to Ausenco in connection with the MoU would be less than 5% of those currently issued and outstanding. The commencement of Ausenco’s work towards the GMP is contingent upon Euromax independently funding an agreed amount. The proposed issuance of common shares to Ausenco is subject to the final approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Commenting on the announcement, Steve Sharpe, President & CEO stated:
“The strong support of the Macedonian authorities has yet again been shown by the approval of the merger of Concessions and Strategic EIA. The achievement of these Key Milestones, sets a very clear path to the timely development of the Ilovica-Shtuka Project. The offers for Contract Mining have come in at rates far lower than we had anticipated. With the potential for a US$40 million capex reduction, they seem a very compelling alternative to the owner operated mining plan presented in the Feasibility study. Finally, the faith in the project shown by Ausenco’s willingness to not only guarantee a maximum price for the Project at or below the Feasibility Study Price, but further, to undertake the detailed engineering and design work required to deliver this price commitment in exchange for equity, issued at a premium, is not only a resounding endorsement of the technical and economic viability of the project, but also a definitive indicator of their confidence and ability to optimize and deliver value for the Euromax shareholders. In addition to a fixed price, Ausenco’s ability to provide schedule and plant performance certainty will significantly enhance our ability to optimize and deliver the financing plan for the Project”.About AusencoAusenco is a private, diversified, engineering, construction and project management company, majority owned by Resource Capital Funds (“RCF”), providing services to the global resource and energy sectors. Ausenco’s experience in precious and base metal projects ranges from conceptual studies for new project developments to execution with EPC or EPCM delivery. Ausenco has delivered a number of projects under Lump Sum Turnkey contracts which provide cost, schedule and performance certainty often required by financiers and investors. Ausenco is currently completing the process plant and other support infrastructure for a gold project in Nova Scotia under a Lump Sum Turnkey contract and is often pioneering the entry into new jurisdictions and/or innovative technologies focused on the delivery of superior shareholder returns.
