Petropavlovsk cuts Q1 gold output 18% to 92,100 oz
MOSCOW. April 28 (Interfax) - Petropavlovsk plc reduced gold production 18% year-on-year in Q1 2016 to 92,100 oz, the company said in a statement.
Production guidance for 2016 as a whole is unchanged at 460,000-500,000 oz.
This would be 1%-9% less than in 2015, however the company plans to boost output 10%-20% annually in 2017-2020, "assuming successful completion of proposed transactions."
Net debt fell 2% during Q1 to $596 million, according to preliminary estimates.
Petropavlovsk operating results, '000 oz:
| Mine | Q1 2016 | Q1 2015 | Change |
| Pioneer | 32,4 | 43,9 | -26% |
| Pokrovsky | 7,5 | 12,8 | -41% |
| Malomyr | 12,0 | 16,5 | -27% |
| Albyn | 40,1 | 39,6 | 1% |
| Total | 92,1 | 112,8 | -18% |
Gold sales fell 9% year-on-year in Q1 2016 to 101,000 oz. The average sale price fell 4% to $1,164/oz.
Petropavlovsk commercially develops hardrock gold deposits in Amur region - Pokrovsky mine, Pioner, Malomyr and Albyn.
Major shareholders include the company's chairman of the board of directors Peter Hambro, CEO Pavel Maslovsky and their partner at Asian-Pacific Bank Andrei Vdovin. The biggest shareholder with more than 14.8% is Viktor Vekselberg's Renova.
