DUBLIN (Reuters) - Exploration company West African Diamonds is expanding its
gold and diamond operations in Sierra Leone with scope for good growth in the
coming years, the company's chairman John Teeling said on Tuesday.
Teeling, an Irish mining entrepreneur, said gold and diamond production had
begun at its plant 11 project in Koidu.
"It is still quite small, but we are up and running and we are the only
diamond and gold miner in the country at the moment operating," he told Reuters
in an interview.
The plant has an eight-year life and Teeling said it was expected to produce
8,000 ounces of gold and around 6,000 carats of diamonds in its first year from
March 2008 to March 2009.
This is expected to rise to 12,000 ounces of gold and 10,000 carats in the
second year, he said.
The company also has a separate diamond project in Koidu and Teeling said he
expected to do "some kind of deal" with Israel's Benny Steinmetz Group, which
had a mine next to the site.
"My idea is that we mine and they process," he said. "Will that happen? I
don't know."
Teeling said the company was also active in other exploration projects in
Guinea.
Gold prices set a record high of $936.50 an ounce in early February and
Teeling said he saw a "bull market" for the metal.
"LOW-COST, LOW-CAPEX"
"Whether or not it's (set to stay around) $900 I don't know. Certainly the
prices that destroyed us at $250 and $300 10 years ago will not come back for
the foreseeable future," he said.
Teeling, who heads up a stable of other exploration companies including
African Diamonds, said the market was positive for firms to look into higher
risk ventures.
"It brings what were formerly non-viable projects into consideration," he
said. Potential buyers had expressed an interest in acquiring West African
Diamonds but the company was not interested in selling, he added.
Teeling, who is also chairman of Persian Gold, predicted the results of a
resource estimation underway at its gold project at Yazd in central Iran were
likely to indicate deposits of around 500,000 ounces.
"It will be a low-cost, low-capex operation," he said.
He said they would begin a second drilling phase at their Dalli gold and
copper prospect in central Iran in March.
"We are cutting our teeth in Iran," he said.
Teeling said the company did not see any risk from working in Iran from the
government.
"The government is actively trying to develop external mining and there is
almost nobody there," he said.
"The political risk is from the Americans on us and yes it is a concern," he
added.
Teeling said the company remained committed to Iran: "Iran is one of the most
prospective mineral provinces in the world."
For a separate interview with John Teeling on his plans for Swala Resources,
please click on
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Exploration company West African Diamonds is expanding its
gold and diamond operations in Sierra Leone with scope for good growth in the
coming years, the company's chairman John Teeling said on Tuesday.
