CRONIMET MINING TO INVEST USD 50 MILLION IN ARMENIA

SteelGuru
July 31 2009
India

Huliq reported that Cronimet Group a German metals company that owns
largest mining enterprise in Armenia pledged to make at least USD
60 million in additional investments to expand its operations in
the country.

As per report Mr Guenter Pilarski chairman of the Cronimet group
made the pledge during a visit to Yerevan that involved talks with
Mr Serzh Sarkisian PM of Armenia and local businessmen.

Mr Pilarski said that the extra investments will be channeled into
building a copper smelter in the same mountainous area close to
Armenia’s border with Iran. The project will not create any ecological
problems."

Mr Pilarski made similar assurances at a meeting with Sarkisian on
July 28th. He said that the planned smelter will have modern equipment
and technology that inflict no damage on environment.

Zangezur currently only enriches most of cooper and molybdenum ores
extracted from its Kajaran mines. The rest of it is turned into metal
at the Yerevan based Makur Yerkat smelter, which is also owned by
Cronimet. Both Zangezur and Makur Yerkat have significantly increased
production levels in the past 3 years on the back of record high
international prices of copper and other non ferrous metals. Virtually
all of their production is sold abroad.

Cronimet had teamed up with 2 Armenian firms in late 2004 to buy
a 75% stake in the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Plant in a USD 132
million deal. As part of the takeover, it undertook to invest USD 150
million in modernizing the Soviet built plant, which is located near
the southeastern town of Kajaran and currently employs about 3,000
people. Much of the modernization is due to be completed by the end
of this year.