Petropavlovsk to start POX Hub autoclaves in Sept 2018
MOSCOW. Sept 29 (Interfax) - Petropavlovsk plc plans to start the first autoclaves at its POX Hub in Russia's Amur region in September 2018, the gold miner said in a statement.
"The proposed project schedule is about two and a half years including a full ramp-up of the plant. The ramp-up is based on each of the four autoclaves starting one month apart commencing September 2018 and finishing December 2018. During the initial stage we are planning to process Malomir concentrate. Once fully ramped up the POX plant is expected to process around 500,000 tonnes of refractory concentrates per year. The POX plant design allocates slots for two further autoclave vessels, which can be added in the future increasing processing capacity by 50%," the company said.
"With the current refractory reserve and resource base of 9.31Moz (including 3.95Moz of JORC reserves at Malomir and Pioneer), we expect the project to unlock significant value for our shareholders and ensure sustainable production from refractory assets for 20 years with excellent growth potential. We are extremely excited to be able to return to this project, which will allow us to realise the value of refractory resources not only within the Group but also within the Russian Far East area. The POX Hub design allows for separate and simultaneous processing of refractory concentrates with a wide range of metallurgical properties and could be used as a processing base for third parties on an off-take agreements basis," it said, quoting its CEO, Peter Maslovsky.
Refractory ores account for around half of Petropavlovsk. The bulk of them (70%) are at Malomir and the rest are at Pioneer.
Petropavlovsk said it invested more than 830 million rubles in gold projects in the Amur region in H1 2016, and more than 500 million rubles of this on exploration. The focus was on preparations for the company's first underground mining project: the Pioneer deep mine should produce its first ore in Q1 2017.