The four-PSU consortium for Afghan gold and copper assets is moving to spawn a corporate entity.
Members of the consortium, led by Hindustan Copper, will meet within a week to formalise the structure, role, equity base and participation.
The Chairman of HCL, Mr Shakeel Ahmed, told
SAIL along with NALCO and Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd are other members of the second consortium for Afghan yellow and red metal deposits.
The proposed entity is looking at a seed capital between Rs 150 and Rs 200 crore for the initial stage. So far, the consortium has been operating on the basis of multiple MoUs.
As a preparation for submission of the financial bid in the middle of July, the members would also consider the preliminary due diligence report by a five-member consortium team, which visited the sites.
The alliance submitted the expressions of interest in March in response to the Afghan Ministry of Mines' invitation for four exploration licence areas — Badakhshan (four gold blocks of 250 square km each), Zarkashan (two copper-gold blocks of 242 sqkm each), Balkhab (two blocks of copper of 210 and 247 sqkm) and Shaida (one block of 250 sqkm).
The consortium gained access to the technical data related to the assets and also made professional presentation for entering the qualification stage.
The proposed project areas fall in four different Afghan provinces, where security risks are still substantial. Absence of clear estimates of the probable gold and copper deposits and basic infrastructure will require more than usual exploration time, experts felt.