Russia's Nordgold accelerates work on processing ultra-low-grade reserves at Gross mine

YAKUTSK. Nov 18 (Interfax) - Nordgold has launched a public discussion on a project to process low-grade gold ore at its Gross mine in Yakutia, the company said.

"Such material is unsuitable for the main production process and is currently stockpiled on the surface. The Northern Heap [leaching site] will enable its processing, generating additional economic benefits. The project, including a preliminary environmental impact assessment, has been submitted for public discussion, which will last until December 12, 2024," it said.

According to the 2024 feasibility study, the cut-off grade for gold at the Gross deposit is 0.2 grams per tonne.

"The Northern Heap Leach Pad project involves creating a stationary heap leaching facility within the Gross cluster with an annual processing capacity of 16 million tonnes of ore, and potentially building a plant to extract gold from the solutions," Ramazan Nasrulayev, the executive director of the Gross cluster, was quoted as saying.

Previously, Nordgold said it was expecting a further increase in reserves at the Gross cluster. This growth is expected to come from additional exploration work and from incorporating ultra-low-grade off-balance reserves into the balance sheet. While the company does not currently process refractory ores from Gross, it is considering this option for the future.

The Gross mine processes ores from its deposit with the same name in the Olekminsk district of Yakutia using heap leaching. The mine is currently expanding its production capacity to 26 million tonnes of ore annually. The project is set for completion in 2025.

Nordgold ranks among the top 10 gold producers in Russia. The group also has assets in Kazakhstan, Guinea, and Burkina Faso. According to the latest available data, the controlling shareholder is Marina Mordashova.