Indian gold miners soaring to a 15-year high

The stock price of Deccan Gold Mines Ltd. in India has risen to its highest level since 2008, after the company encountered difficulties in mining locally and subsequently began large-scale global acquisitions. The Deccan stock market rose by over 40% in July, far exceeding the 3.5% increase of the benchmark Standard&Poor's BSE Sensex index. Earlier this month, the only listed gold miner in India acquired shares in Avelum Partners LLC in Kyrgyzstan and Kalevala gold Oy in Finland.

Prior to these acquisitions, the company also concluded other transactions in the past year, including the acquisition of a processing plant in cooperation with AK Corp. of the United Arab Emirates, and the acquisition of a mining license for a gold mine in Andhra Pradesh by investing in Indian Geomysore Services. Hanuma Prasad Modali, the general manager, said in an interview that mines in Kyrgyzstan and Andhra Pradesh are expected to be fully put into production from next year. This will start to bring revenue to the company, "he said, adding that Finnish assets will take another three years. He said that Deccan plans to raise about $20 million from institutional investors and High-net-worth individual in the next 12 months, adding that the company is also willing to sell some equity. Since its establishment in 2003, the Deccan has only pilot mined a few kilograms of gold in India. The company's progress in obtaining state level mining permits has been slow, and after its exploration permit was cancelled by the government, the company went through legal proceedings.

Modali said that frequent changes in mining policies have always been a key challenge for India, hindering investment by multinational corporations such as Rio Tinto Group. He urged the government to develop separate policies for precious metals. He said that Deccan is still exploring some small projects in Tanzania, but further acquisitions will only be considered after the production of existing assets begins.