Eldorado Gold officially out of China

Tanjianshan is an open pit gold mine located in Qinghai Province in northwest China.(Image courtesy of Eldorado Gold)

Canada’s Eldorado Gold (TSX:ELD) (NYSE:EGO), until recently the largest foreign producer of the precious metal in China, is officially out of that country as the miner completed the sale of its interest in three assets to an affiliate of China’s Yintai Resources (SHSZ:000975) for $600 million.

Sale marks the conclusion to Eldorado’s 11-year history in China.

The transaction, first announced in May, refers to Eldorado’s stake in the White Mountain and Tanjianshan mines, as well as the company’s interest in the Eastern Dragon development project.

The closing of the deal marks the conclusion to Eldorado’s 11-year history in China. Earlier this year, the Vancouver–based miner — which used to have three of its six producing mines operating in the Asian country — had sold its 82% stake in the Jinfeng mine to a wholly-owned subsidiary of China National Gold Group for $300 million in cash.

The cash will largely fund Eldorado’s aggressive mine development plans, which could boost its total output 110% over the next three years to 400,000 onces of gold.

The company has said it will spend between $420 million and $480 million in 2017 on development work, which includes a mine expansion and the building of two new operations.

Eldorado, which also has mines and projects in Turkey, Romania, Brazil and Greece, was granted last week a long-awaited permit to build a plant at its Skouries gold mine in northern Greece, one of four major operations the firm has in that country