Georgian Mining chief pleased with ministerial meetings

Georgian Mining Corporation reported the results of a meeting with the country’s new minister of economy and sustainable development, Georgia Kobulia, on Wednesday, with the meeting having taken place on 21 September in Tbilisi.

The AIM-traded firm’s chief executive officer Mike Struthers said Kobulia had settled full-time into his role 10 September, and he was able to meet with the minister and the head of the Mining Agency, Maia Zavrashvili, at the end of last week.

He said the trio had a “productive discussion” around the history of the company, its plans in Georgia, details of its exploration successes, the pending permit approval, and the government's plans to significantly expand the country's minerals industry.

“The Minister recognises the quality of our application and our urgency to resolve the issue quickly,” Struthers explained.

“He said we can be optimistic for a positive outcome very soon.”

As the company had mentioned previously, the delay had arisen from the government reorganisation which started in late June, with it taking “some time” for the new ministers to divest themselves of their previous responsibilities and to settle into their new roles.

“I'm very pleased that we finally had the opportunity to present our company and our permit application at this level and I'm confident that we'll have a positive response very soon.”

Struthers said he was also encouraged by the “very constructive meeting” he had with the deputy minister of environmental protection and agriculture, Nino Tandilashvili, in which they reportedly shared their “common views” on ‘responsible mining’ and the government's migration to European Union standards.

“Furthermore, we also discussed our company's plans for environmental studies and CSR programmes in concert with the development of our projects.

“All of our meetings provided for very positive dialogues and I look forward to working with the government in the future.”