The options are exercisable between one and eight years from now and they can be exercised at a price of 27p.

Chief executive Dekel Golan was granted around 900,000 options, while finance director Linda Naylor and non executive director Alex Novak were issued 555,556 and 500,000 respectively. 

Also chairman Christopher Palmer-Tomkinson and non executive director Rob Weinberg were each granted around 100,000 options each. Then a further 1.5 million options were given to other employees.

Chaarat is currently developing the Tulkubash open pit and the underground  Kiziltash mines in the Tien Shan mountains in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Chaarat, whose projects are located on the highly-prospective Tien Shan Gold Belt area of Central Asia, added that significant potential to further upgrade its resource and reserve at Tulkubash had been identified.

Chaarat said that during the 2011 exploration season work was focused on improving the resource and generating reserves from the “open pittable” section of the Central Tulkubash section of the ore body, yielding encouraging results.

According to the firm, this work helped improve its understanding of the Tulkubash project to the extent that it now believes that the resource may have the capability of supporting production at a rate of 2,500 tonnes per day.

A total of 15,413 metres of drilling generated an open pittable resource of 404,000 ounces (from a total of 501,000 ounces) at a grade of 2.92 grams per tonne. Chaarat said that further drill results to the south and north of the zone indicate that the reserve can be increased significantly.

Meanwhile, the firm is waiting on approval of to convert the Tulkubash permit to a mining permit after submitting a report that shows it has defined sufficient reserves to justify its grant.

After the grant of the mining permit, Chaarat will be required to prepare a detailed preliminary project design, and the firm is already working on this. In the absence of unforeseen delays, said Chaarat, it expects permitting will be complete in time for it to begin production in the second quarter of 2013.

Chaarat Gold (LON:CGH) has reported a positive result from its ongoing drilling programme in the Tulkubash Project in north western Kyrgyzstan.

The Kyrgyz - focused gold group said its Tulkubash mineralisation had extended from a previous strike of 360 metres to 920 metres and is still open towards the northeast.

Dekel Golan, chief executive, said the group was “very encouraged” by the results as they demonstrated the significant extension, potential and actual, of the Tulkubash zone.

“The prospect of extended strike, as well as improved predictability and continuity, which is effectively confirmed by this drilling, will potentially enable Chaarat to increase production from this low cost ore body and further improve its profit potential for the early years of operation,” he added.

Chaarat said that 19 out of 20 holes drilled in the north west extension and 9 holes in the south eastern extension intersected mineralisation at the predicted depth. The range of results included 6.25m at 8.58 g/t gold and 11.25m at 8.21 g/t gold at the top end to 11.25m at 2.19 g/t gold.

Mr Golan added: “We are confident that the scenario should improve further with drilling along strike, especially to the north east of the zone; drilling which will commence during the spring of next year.  An updated resource and reserve estimate based on the 2011 drilling will be released early in 2012."

A previous resource estimate based on 2010 drilling showed indicated and inferred resources of 321,000 ounces at a grade of 4.00 g/t in a portion of the Tulkubash zone. The Tulkubash Zone is one of three major zones of mineralisation within the Chaarat Gold Project.

Following the update, analyst Yuen Low of broker Shore Capital, highlighted that an updated resource and reserve estimate was expected in early 2012.

"The extended strike should have a positive impact on project economics. Although too early to quantify, we expect a positive impact on the share price," he said.

As at 2.52 pm, the firm's shares were up 2.88 per cent, to trade at 26.75 pence.

The Kyrgyz - focused gold group said its Tulkubash mineralisation had extended from a previous strike of 360 metres to 920 metres and is still open towards the northeast. 

Dekel Golan, chief executive, said the group was “very encouraged” by the results as they demonstrated the significant extension, potential and actual, of the Tulkubash zone.

“The prospect of extended strike, as well as improved predictability and continuity, which is effectively confirmed by this drilling, will potentially enable Chaarat to increase production from this low cost ore body and further improve its profit potential for the early years of operation,” he added.

Chaarat said that 19 out of 20 holes drilled in the north west extension and 9 holes in the south eastern extension intersected mineralisation at the predicted depth. The range of results included 6.25m at 8.58 g/t and 11.25m at 8.21 g/t at the top end to 11.25m at 2.19 g/t.

Mr Golan added: “We are confident that the scenario should improve further with drilling along strike, especially to the north east of the zone; drilling which will commence during the spring of next year.  An updated resource and reserve estimate based on the 2011 drilling will be released early in 2012."

A previous resource estimate based on 2010 drilling showed indicated and inferred resources of 321,000 ounces at a grade of 4.00 g/t in a portion of the Tulkubash zone. The Tulkubash Zone is one of three major zones of mineralisation within the Chaarat Gold Project.

Chaarat Gold (LON:CGH) this afternoon told investors that its chairman Christopher Palmer-Tomkinson has increased his stake in the company by acquiring an additional 100,000 shares.

Palmer-Tomkinson bought through separate deals shares on Friday and today. He paid an average price of 27p a share.

The chairman now owns 10.1 million shares, which represents around 4 per cent of the company.

Last month, the Kyrgyzstan-focused firm revealed its half year results, saying it had made steady progress in its bid to begin production late next year or early in 2013.

Its flagship Chaarat project is split between two main deposits - the Kiziltash underground mine (also referred to as the ‘contact zone’), and the Tulkubash open-pit project.

The project contains 4.736 million ounces of gold in total indicated and inferred resources and the firm aims to become a low cost gold producer - with first production coming from the Tulkubash project.

When the Kiziltash project comes on stream too, the company is targeting combined annual production of more than 200,000 ounces per year.

The holes were drilled on the  'Contact Zone’ and the resource for this part of the Chaarat project has increased by 16 percent, from 2.001 million ounces to 2.331 million ounces.

The flagship Chaarat project is split between two main deposits, known as the ‘contact zone’ and the ‘Tulkubash zone’. After today's upgrade the combined project now has a 4.736 million ounce gold resource. 

“During the winter season the Company continued drilling from underground drill chambers in order to increase and improve the resource of the Contact Project,” said chief executive Dekel Golan.

“The increase in the size of the resource estimate is particularly pleasing as is the general increase in grade at depth.”  

Crucially Chaarat said that the ongoing drilling is providing encouragement that gold mineralisation continues both along strike and down dip. The Contact Zone is proving to be a significant mineralised body and it could support a major mining operation by itself, it said.

The best results from the six hole winter drill programme had intersections with widths between 4.5 and 27 metres grading from 3.6 to 11.6 grams per tonne gold.

Golan added: “The company intends to continue drilling the Contact Project during the current summer season and increase drilling underground during the winter season after the drilling in the Tulkubash zone has been completed.”

"We believe the Contact Project has significant unlocked potential which can be improved with our better understanding of grade distribution and zoning."

At the moment the contact zone has 2 million ounces in JORC resource - as part of the larger 4 million ounce resource - and drilling is ongoing. 

The latest drill results are from the first batch that was not included in the recent resource update. The results comprise 10 drill holes and the highlight intersections range between 4.55 and 22 metres with grades ranging from 4.14 to 11.21 grams per tonne gold.

"The results and the increase in strike and down dip continuity will not only add to the delineated resource in the deposit, but also have a positive impact on the potential mining rate of the Kiziltash project,” chief executive Dekel Golan said. 

He adds: “The results help to identify the higher grade trends in the mineralised body and focus exploration efforts on those areas which will increase the average grade of the whole deposit."

So far the Contact project has mineralisation over a 1.16 kilometre strike length, with a maximum depth of 900 metres.  It is open both along strike and down dip.

The Contact zone is one portion of the Chaarat project in the Tien Shan Mountains of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The flagship project is split between two distinct areas, the Tulkubash open-pit project and the Kiziltash underground mine development project.  

This two-pronged approach, which is targeting first production by mid-2012, will see Chaarat fast-track an open-pit mine at Tulkubash, while it continues the feasibility work on the much the larger Kiziltash underground mine development project.

The Kiziltash part of the project has most of the resources that have been defined to date. It comprises two separate areas, the 2 million ounce Contact zone and the 1.9 million ounce Main zone. 

Chaarat Gold (LON:CGH) unveiled plans for a £51 million placing this morning, alongside a new resource upgrade for the Chaarat gold project in the Kyrgyz Republic.

It has added 397,000 ounces to the project’s JORC resource as a result of the 2010 exploration drilling programme. Last year it drilled 66 new holes, for 10,119 metres.

The Chaarat project now contains 4.4 million ounces of gold in total indicated and inferred resources.

In a separate statement the company announced that it will raise £51.6 million through an equity placing. It will issue 103 million new shares priced at 50 pence each. 

Crucially the new capital paves the way to first production from the Tulkubash section of the Chaarat project.

"Chaarat is delighted to announce that it has now secured the funding to establish the initial production stage of the Chaarat project and take it to production,” chief executive Dekel Golan said.

The Chaarat project is split between two distinct areas, the Tulkubash open-pit project and the Kiziltash underground mine project. The company is fast-tracking Tulkubash, while it continues with the feasibility studies for the larger underground project.

Tulkubash - which now has 32,000 ounces of gold in the indicated resources and 321,000 ounces inferred – is expected to bring Chaarat’s first gold production by mid-2012.

The company is currently working on a definitive feasibility study for Tulkubash and a pre-feasibility study on the much larger Kiziltash project.

Kiziltash itself comprises two separate areas, the 1.9 million ounce ‘Main Zone’ and the 2 million ounce ‘Contact Zone’. 

Golan reckons that as the Contact Zone develops it will become a ‘significant linchpin’ for the company’s future production. Chaarat was primarily focused on the Contact Zone throughout the 2010 exploration programme. 

"The other area on which we focused this season was the Tulkubash Zone,” Golan said.

He adds: “The mineralisation trend and controls are now much better understood and, with further strike extension and infill drilling to be completed in the coming months, greater understanding of potential production rates should also become available."

The drilling results were from the final holes of the 2010 drill campaign, which ended in November 2010.

Chaarat said that the Contact Zone was “again proving its robust continuous characteristics”, whilst the Tulkubash zone continued to add to its understanding of the project and provided confidence that it could be fast tracked into production.

Investors welcomed the update, sending shares in the company up 3.5%.

“Today's drilling results are an additional demonstration that Chaarat holds a major and growing resource. The Contact Zone is again proving its robust continuous characteristics.

“These results provide us with further encouragement and confidence for the establishment of a large, low cost mining operation, in addition to the open pit Tulkubash project which we aim to bring into production in 2012,” said chief executive of Chaarat Gold Dekel Golan.

The results are being incorporated into the revised resource estimate currently being calculated, which Chaarat intends to announce shortly.

Chaarat’s new COO de Galbert has previously served as General Manager of KATCO, AREVA's joint venture in uranium production with Kazatomprom in Kazakhstan, and was in charge of Central Asian operations for AREVA.

De Galbert will join the company in March 2011 and will be based in Bishkek.

“Benoît is experienced in the region and has a proven track record in developing a large scale mine as demonstrated by his tenure in Kazakhstan where he led the team that built from scratch a large, successful and very profitable operation.

“It is a great vote of confidence in the company that a person of his calibre is joining us,” said Golan.

Weinberg, aged 63, is an experienced public company director who has more than 35 years of experience in the international mining industry. 

Weinberg is currently a non-executive director of Medusa Mining (LON:MML, ASX:MML, TSX:MLL), Solomon Gold (LON:SOLG) and Kasbah Resources (ASX:KAS).

Weinberg has held a number of senior director positions including, managing director, institutional investment at the World Gold Council and a director of Gold Bullion Securities.

Previously he was a director of the investment banking division at Deutsche Bank in London after having been head of the global mining research team at SG Warburg Securities.  He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Weinberg has also held senior positions within Société Générale and was head of the mining team at James Capel & Co.  He was formerly marketing manager of the gold and uranium division of Anglo American Corp of South Africa Ltd.

Oliver Greene, previously non-executive director, retired from the board on January 10 2011.

Gold grades intercepted ranged from 3.86 grams per tonne over 34 metres to 10.09 grams over 10 metres.

Chaarat said drilling and assay analysis will be available in the next  few weeks  and that  a revised resource for the Tulkubash project incorporating the new drilling  information will be  completed during the first quarter of next year.

It said the latest drilling results will go towards an updated resource, which will in turn “substantiate the economic viability of the currently designed Tulkubash project”.  

The 2010 exploration programme of Tulkubash comprises of 42 holes over a total of  4,923 metres, including 100 metres of underground development and 414 metres of trenching. Only two holes remain to be completed.  

Before that 25 holes, covering a total of 4,721.6 metres, had been drilled on Tulkubash. 

Chaarat chief executive Dekel Golan said: "As we are approaching the completion of the exploration programme for the first stage  of the Tulkubash project, we are pleased to update the market on some of the early results we have encountered.

“These results represent a small but significant portion of the drilling which took place and we expect to announce the balance of the results in January 2011 followed by a resource update.

"The Tulkubash project holds great  promise for Chaarat and we look forward to the  definitive feasibility study results next year which we hope will confirm our understanding that  the project  can support  low cost, open pit production which is  the  precursor to  the development of the much larger Kiziltash project."

SNC Lavalin has been commissioned to complete the definitive feasibility study for Tulkubash, which is expected to be ready during the first half of 2011.

Earlier this month Chaarat decided to split its flagship project into two separate entities, in a move that could pave the way for gold production in 2011.

The company will now approach the Tulkubash Zone and the Main Project as two distinct projects. Together the pair is estimated host a 4 million ounce resource. 

The Main Project comprises both the main and contact deposits, and it is being developed as an underground mine. Tulkubash has a different mineralogy and it is being developed as an open pit mine.

Kiziltash - formerly known as the Main Project - comprises the ‘Main zone’ and the ‘Contact zone’.

This morning’s drilling results included nine of the last ten holes drilled on the Main zone during 2010. The results indicate that the mineralisation is consolidating and it is thickening at depth.  

"Drilling in the Main zone is gradually revealing a larger than expected, more continuous and exciting mineralised system,” chief executive Dekel Golan said.

Golan believes that Kiziltash may support a significant underground mining rate, due to the combination of the Main zone and the large and growing Contact zone.

"These results provide us with further encouragement and confidence for the establishment of a large, low cost mining operation, in addition to the open pit Tulkubash project which we aim to bring into production by early 2012," Golan added.

Last month, Chaarat rationalised the development of the 4 million ounce Chaarat gold project, splitting the project into two separate entities, the larger Kiziltash underground project and the nearer term Tulkubash open-pit.

It is currently working on the Kiziltash pre-feasibility study, which is scheduled for Q1 2011. It is also fast-tracking Tulkubash into production during 2011.

At Kiziltash Chaarat has drilled 10 holes on the Main zone this year, which along with the 196 holes already drilled, has delineated a system with sufficient grades, widths and strike length that Chaarat believes could support a major mining operation.

The 2009 drill programme delineated 1.87 million ounces of gold at the Main Zone, at  a  grade  of  4.15 grams per tonne, and these latest results are expected to extend this further.

The latest drilling highlights showed widths between 6 and 18.4 metres grading 3.55 to 8.21 grams per tonne.

Importantly two of the zones have been identified on strike, spaced 100 metres apart, and Chaarat plans further drilling to test whether they form part of the same ore body. If this is proven the company believes the entire Kiziltash project’s economics will be enhanced.

“The importance of these results goes well beyond their addition to the current 4.009 million ounces JORC compliant resource,” the company said..  

“There is now a long strike of relatively wide mineralisation within three areas in the Kiziltash project which supports the company's plan to build a significant underground operation.”

ASVI stepped in to take up the subscription shares that were originally destined for Chaarat’s planned Chinese investment partner China Nonferrous Metals International Mining (CNMIM). 

This new placing will raise 15 percent more capital than originally anticipated.

The new investor, a specialist in high-end technical mining services group, plans to help Chaarat with its mine development projects in the Kyrgyz Republic.

"We see this subscription as a strong endorsement of both the Chaarat and Tulkubash projects as well as our management team,” chief executive Dekel Golan said.

Last week, Chaarat announced that it would develop the Tulkubash open pit separately from the main Chaarat project, thus allowing first gold production to be fast-tracked into 2011.

The 4 million ounce Chaarat underground mine’s pre-feasibility study is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2011.

“Chaarat is fully funded to complete the Definitive Feasibility study of the Tulkubash project as well as the Pre-feasibility study of the Main project,” Golan added.

“These additional funds will enable the company to commence certain development activities earlier than originally anticipated."

Regulatory delays in China caused Chaarat and CNMIM to cancel a £2 million share subscription last week. 

ASVI is now buying the subscription shares at ‘near market prices’, thus generating 15 percent more capital than originally expected under the CNMIM deal. Chaarat will receive an additional 6 pence per share from the placing.

Chaarat will issue 5.7 million shares to ASVI at 46 pence each.

CNMIM currently has a 15.9 percent stake in the company and it is entitled to maintain is proportionate stake, it therefore has 15 days to confirm whether it intends to subscribe for additional shares.

“The PFS (prefeasibility study)for our 4Moz Chaarat Gold Project is progressing well ... we are continuing to evaluate the various options available to us to accelerate the development of the Tulkubash project which has the potential to commence production in 2011.”

The company’s project portfolio was boosted further this summer with the Kyrex acquisition.

Chaarat bought Kyrex in June through a share-based deal. Golan emphasised that Kyrex has a number of promising licence areas in Kyrgyzstan, notably Chontash, a gold-copper- molybdenum project and Mironovskoye, a polymetallic deposit. 
    
“As the Chaarat deposit is nearing its development phase, management was of the view that our exploration team can be better utilised in adding value through exploration on other prospective licences.”  

A small scale drilling programme is already underway at Chontash, and Chaarat believes that Mironovskoye should be relatively easy to develop with potential to generate cash flow with a modest investment.