Seligdar opens gold extraction factory at Khvoynoye; CaPex stand at 15 bln rubles

ALDAN, Yakutia. July 21 (Interfax) - The Russian holding company Seligdar has inaugurated a new gold extraction factory in Khvoynoye, Yakutia, an Interfax correspondent reported from the ceremony on Saturday.

The factory has a design capacity of 3 million tonnes of ore and 2.5 tonnes of gold per year and will operate under the direct leaching principle.

Seligdar plans to produce around 250 kilograms of gold at the Khvoynoye by the end of this year and around 1,000 in the next before reaching design capacity.

Capital expenditures allocated for the factory's construction stand at 15 billion rubles.

The Khvoynoye deposit contains an estimated 16.8 tonnes of gold resources.

Seligdar is one of Russia's ten largest gold mining companies. It also has a tin mining division and other assets.