Polymetal ships about 35% of concentrate from Mayskoye for processing at Amursk in 2014
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) - Polymetal , Russia's biggest silver producer and one of its leading gold producers, produced 92,700 tonnes of gold concentrate containing 188,100 ounces of gold at the Mayskoye mine in Chukotka, the company reported.
It refined 9,900 tonnes of the concentrate (about 11% of the total) at Amursk POX in Khabarovsk territory. Polymetal delivered 72,400 tonnes of concentrate (containing 130,200 oz of gold or 78% of the total) to consumers in China, 140% more than in 2013.
Polymetal concluded three off-take agreements with consumers in China last year on delivery of concentrate from Mayskoye. Later, Polymetal said it would deliver equal amounts of concentrate from Mayskoye to Amursk and the outside buyers.
"A portion of the concentrate from Mayskoye (about 35%) was shipped to Amursk, but not all of it was processed," a company representative told Interfax. "The navigation season in Chukotka begins in July-August and ends in October-November. Therefore, a portion of the concentrate shipped in 2014 will be attributed to the current year. At the same time a portion of the concentrate produced this year will not be shipped either to China or to Amursk: it will be stored in Chukotka until the new navigation season begins," the representative said.
This year, the respective concentrate deliveries to Amursk and off-takers in China could approach 50/50, the representative said.
Concentrate sales to the consumers in China peaked in October-November 2014, the company said in documents. It sold 50,000 tonnes of concentrate with an average gold content of 63 g/tonne, adding a further 91,000 oz to the result for the full year.
"The share of material processed at the Amursk POX compared to off-take sales is expected to be larger in 2015 as a sufficient amount of concentrate has now been delivered to the POX plant. The actual split will be determined on the basis of metallurgical properties of the material in order to optimize costs and recovery," the company said.