Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd. announced the appointments of Mac DeGuire as a non-executive director of the company with immediate effect and David McNee as Chief Operating Officer. Most recently Mac has worked as President and Chief Operating Officer of Guyana Goldfields. David McNee has worked on the construction and establishment of mining operations, with responsibility for strategic development and delivery on operating targets.

Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd. provided a project update on the Tulkubash project, which is part of the Chaarat project area located in the north west of the Kyrgyz Republic. Background and development strategy: As a junior company with a large deposit capable of supporting a significant production base, the development strategy of the Company has attempted to strike a balance between raising funds to achieve the appropriate pace of development and shareholders' resulting dilution. Chaarat's management aims to unlock the value of the Chaarat deposit in stages by constructing a production facility, initially with limited capacity, which could be expanded as additional funding options became available such as by way of cash from operations, project finance or the introduction of a partner. Once in production, the execution risk profile of the project will have been decreased and raising additional funds or finding the partners to increase production capacity should be more straightforward and reflect a higher value for the company. The first stage development of the Tulkubash project involves the processing of low-sulphur clean ore. During the 2012 exploration season the company identified that the open pit potential of the Tulkubash deposit was greater than previously estimated and, in addition, that the shallow material of the Tulkubash and Kiziltash deposits is amenable to processing by heap leaching. Further drilling was therefore undertaken in the top layers of the Tulkubash and Kiziltash deposits to delineate the heap leachable material. In the Tulkubash deposit, it is estimated that approximately 2.7 Mt of resource at a grade of 2.06 g/t are suitable for heap leaching. The Tulkubash deposit is open towards the north so the company considers that significantly more heap leachable material may be available. In addition, potential heap leachable material in the Kiziltash section of the deposit has been identified. Metallurgical tests of this material are currently being conducted and initial results have been encouraging. If the results are confirmed, the open pit mineable heap leachable resource may increase by up to an additional 4.8Mt at a grade of 3.29 g/t. Having established the feasibility of the heap leach processing method, the company has decided to commence operations by establishing a Heap Leach Plant (HLP), which has two major advantages over the originally planned conventional Carbon in Leach (CIL) plant; namely a lower capital cost and a reduced power requirement. The lower power requirement will reduce the cost of production while power is still supplied by diesel generators. The production capacity will initially be constrained by the size of the mining fleet. In addition, the lower head grade caused by a lower cutoff grade and the lower recovery from a HLP operation means the Directors anticipate an initial production capacity of about 21,000 ounces of gold per year. However production capacity, which is effectively only a matter of upgrading the mining fleet, and some relatively minor modifications to the processing circuit, can be increased quickly and is expected to reach 50,000 ounces per annum during 2014. The Directors believe this number can be increased if the Kiziltash metallurgical work yields positive results. The company has already invested in the design of the proposed final layout of a CIL production facility capable of supporting production of approximately 200,000 ounces of gold per annum. As far as possible, elements of the HLP will be located in their final location, within the envelope of the full size plant, so as to allow the expansion plan to be implemented as smoothly as possible and to avoid unnecessary expenditure. Work will continue in parallel with production to develop the configuration of the entire Chaarat deposit. The optimisation of the plant configuration may result in some changes to the plant design. However the general layout and design of the plant is considered to be flexible enough to allow the incorporation of any resulting changes.

Shandong Gold Mineral Resources Group (SGMR) is in merger talks with Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd (AIM:CGH). Chaarat Gold said, "The Company is pleased to announce that significant progress has been made towards agreeing a transaction. However, discussions with SGMR have recently been delayed due to a change in senior personnel at the holding company level of the SGMR group. Recommencement of the negotiations has now been agreed with the new management team. The Directors intend that any agreement will enhance long-term value for Chaarat shareholders. However there can be no certainty that any agreement will be reached."