On Tuesday, Xanadu Mines Ltd., copper and gold exploration company with several advanced exploration projects in Mongolia’s highly mineralised and vastly underexplored south Gobi region, made a statement related to the COVID-19 impact on its operation. The company’s main project, diamond drilling at the Kharmagtai deposit in Umnugovi province, temporarily halted in February. “We have not seen a significant impact on our business to date. However, although there are currently no restrictions on transportation locally, any further deterioration of the situation may result in quarantines and affect Xanadu’s ability to undertake exploration activities in the South Gobi,” the company said in a report. “It is not possible to estimate the impact of the outbreak’s near-term and longer effects or Governments’ varying efforts to combat the out-break and support businesses. This being the case, we do not consider it practicable to provide a quantitative or qualitative estimate of the potential impact of this outbreak on the Group at this time.” Subsequent to end of the financial year, the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. In March 2020, Mongolia reported its first transported case of COVID-19. As a response, the country closed its borders and halted all international flights. As of today, Mongolia had reported 14 cases of COVID-19. Xanadu also revised its 2020 action plan and canceled or postponed activities it considered unimportant. In 2020, the company aims to cut management spending by AUD 1.3 million, or 35 percent, from 2019. On March 24, 2020, the company announced that it entered into an earn-in agreement with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) to sole fund up to USD 7.2 million in exploration expenditure at the Company’s Red Mountain copper-gold Project in Mongolia.

Published Date:2020-04-03