Full-scale construction is underway at Lydian’s Amulsar Gold Project in Armenia. The $65 million mining fleet is from Caterpillar. One Caterpillar 6040 hydraulic shovel, one Caterpillar 994 loader, and four Caterpillar 789D haul trucks arrived as scheduled during Q3 2017. The 6040 shovel, which is the largest load to be transported to site, cleared customs and was delivered without incident. With this delivery and other equipment received during the quarter, transportation and logistics risks have been greatly reduced. Mining equipment is being assembled on site by Zeppelin, the local Caterpillar dealer. Five additional 789D haul trucks are expected to arrive during Q4 2017.

Construction of the mine haul road continues to advance and will provide access from the mine pits to the crushing plant and barren rock storage facility (BRSF). Initial access along the west face of Erato is now complete, which will support acceleration of work at higher elevations. Construction of the BRSF has also commenced. Once the first deliveries of the mobile mining fleet are commissioned and operators are trained, Lydian plans to supplement construction of the mine haul road with this equipment.

Lydian is a gold developer focusing on construction at its 100%-owned Amulsar Gold Project, located in south-central Armenia. Amulsar will be a large-scale, low-cost operation with production expected to begin in the third-quarter of 2018. Open pit mining and conventional heap leach processing contribute to excellent scale and economic potential. Amulsar will be Armenia’s largest gold mine and make Lydian one of the largest emerging gold producers of 2018. Estimated mineral resources contain 3.5 Moz measured and indicated and 1.3 Moz inferred. Gold production is targeted to average approximately 225,000 oz annually over an initial 10-year mine life.