Steppe Gold Ltd announced that it has entered into a turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Hexagon Build Engineering LLC for the Phase 2 Expansion at the ATO Gold Mine in Mongolia.

The precious metals producer said the contract amount payable to Hexagon for the full performance of the work under the EPC contract is approximately USD 148.4 million, which is fully funded by a USD 150 million project finance package that has been made available to the company and its affiliates by TDB Capital Pte Ltd and certain of its affiliates, along with the Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia.

Steppe Gold noted the Phase 2 Expansion is estimated to be complete by the end of 2025 and commence commercial production by 2026.

It added that Phase 2 is expected to increase the company’s production from 30,000 to over 100,000 ounces per annum for 12 years at approximately USD 900 per ounce gold equivalent and is anticipated to produce over 1.2 million ounces of gold equivalent on a recovered basis.

The ATO Gold Mine has produced over 100,000 ounces of gold and generated over USD 185 million in gross revenue, with a further anticipated 65,000 ounces until the end of 2025, according to the company.

Steppe Gold is Mongolia’s premier precious metals producer, with about 4.5 million gold equivalent ounces in resources.