Polymetal to decide by April on Maiskoye concentrate shipments to China
MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) - Polymetal International plc , a leading silver and gold miner in Russia, will make a decision by April 2014 on the distribution of concentrate from its Maiskoye deposit, CEO Vitaly Nesis told reporters on the sidelines of the Minex-2013 forum in Moscow.
This year, Polymetal shipped all concentrate from Maiskoye (up to 50,000 tonnes) under export contracts with Chinese customers. Other options for the concentrate could be processing at the company's Amursk POX Hub, which currently works only with concentrate from the Albazino deposit.
A key factor in the decision will be the terms of the contracts with Chinese customers. "If we manage to get good terms, we'll ship to China [in 2014], if not then to Amur," Nesis said.
He said exports to China are currently profitable for Polymetal, but "it's a matter of comparing two profitable options."
In addition to buyers in China, Polymetal held negotiations with U.S. and New Zealand companies, but the Chinese are offering the best terms at the moment.
Some 90% of the ore at Maiskoye, one of the five largest gold deposits in Russia, are refractory and require preliminary processing in order to achieve acceptable recovery ratios. This is the main reason that previous attempts to develop the deposit failed.
The underground mine at Maiskoye has been in operation since the beginning of 2010, and construction of the processing plant began in 2009. Maiskoye produced 145,000 tonnes of ore in the first quarter of 2013. Polymetal has invested about $250 million in the deposit.
Maiskoye has JORC compliant reserves estimated at 2.4 million ounces of gold in ore with a grade of 9.6 g/t, and resources of 4.8 million ounces of gold in ore with a grade of 8.3 g/t.
Polymetal's production guidance for 2013 is 1.2 million ounces of gold equivalent.