Golden opportunity
The president of La Mancha Resources says the gold miner’s new owner, Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, has issued a challenge to triple production within five years at its Australian operations.
Cairo-based Mr Sawiris, rated by Forbes as worth about $US3.1 billion, recently completed a $C500 million takeover of La Mancha which will produce about 65,000oz this year at the Frog’s Leg underground mine near Coolgardie.
La Mancha president Sebastien de Montessus was in Kalgoorlie-Boulder yesterday to review the operations, as the miner investigates the merits of spending as much as $120 million on its own processing plant. Ore from Frog’s Leg, in which La Mancha holds a controlling 51 per cent interest alongside Alacer Gold, is currently processed at the Greenfields mill near Coolgardie.
“The mandate we have got from our new shareholder is to grow quickly,” Mr de Montessus said. “We think we have the potential to triple the size of production over the next four to five years.
“The market environment is favourable for that.” Paris-based Mr de Montessus predicts the gold price will surpass $2000/oz and remain strong for at least the next three years.
