Alamos Gold determined to fulfill its commitment, says official

Following the announcement by ministry officials concerning the license cancelation of Canadian-based intermediate gold producer Alamos Gold, the general manager of Doğu Biga, a local company established by the producer, has announced that Alamos Gold has a license of 60 years and is determined to fulfill its commitment made to the Turkish government to extract the underground mine in Kaz Mountains.

Alamos Gold is not going anywhere; it has a license for 60 years, and the underground mine will be extracted as promised to Turkey, Ahmet Şentürk said.

Speaking to daily Hürriyet, Şentürk said that a report, prepared by the General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs (MAPEG), stating that the extension of the company's mining license was appropriate was sent to the ministry about one and a half years ago and that they have been waiting for the approval since then.

Alamos Gold, which has bought a site in Turkey's northwestern province of Çanakkale, faced strong resistance from locals and activists in 2019 due to the construction of a cyanide gold mine in a densely forested area, known as the Kaz Mountains.

Noting that there is an underground resource of $4 billion worth in the Kirazlı field in the Kaz Mountains, Şentürk said that 50 percent of the revenue generated would go to costs, and 70 or 80 percent of these costs would be spent on consumables supplied from Turkey.

"We made a direct investment of $140 million and indirectly $240 million in Turkey. We will spend another $160 million for construction [projects] in Kirazlı. We paid 54 million Turkish Liras ($7.1 million) to the Forestry Ministry for cutting down the trees [in the region]," Şentürk said, adding that the main investment expense was for...