Eurasia Mining PLC (LON:EUR) says due diligence is being carried out by a South African mining group on its prospects at West Kytim and Monchetundra.
Lesogo Platinum’s chief executive James Nieuwenhuy has visited Monchetundra and also Eurasia's office in Ekaterinburg to study the alluvial operation at West Kytlim.
Lesogo, which is developing a 50moz Platinum project in South Africa, is considering a partial acquisition of Eurasia's subsidiaries and joint venture opportunities at the sites said the statement.
The visit was arranged by Russian M&A mining specialist Alexei Churakov, who is also to join the Eurasia board as a strategic advisor.
Churakov, who formerly worked for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, assisted Eurasia in the engineering finance contract with Sinosteel at the Monchetundra project.
He also helped to restructure of the operations at the West Kytlim where Eurasia has now acquired a washplant that will see it receive100% of mine revenue in future.
In the short-term, however, platinum coming from the mine has been disrupted
Production commenced in mid-May and volumes to date are standing at a total of c.55kg (c. 1,770 oz) raw platinum.
As part of his remuneration, Churakov has received a 25.47% stake in De Loan Investments, a company that owns the holding of Eurasia’s major shareholder Dmitry Suschov.
Christian Schaffalitzky, Eurasia’s chairman, said: "We are grateful to Mr. Churakov for his contribution to developments at the West Kytlim mine, which as of next season will be operated without contactors, and on arranging the purchase of the enrichment plant.
“We are also delighted that Mr. Churakov has taken a role as Strategic Advisor to the company and brings both his extensive mining M&A experience along with his top level contacts with mining companies including South African Lesego Platinum. “