Kazakhstan's Varvarinskoye gold mine to keep gold production flat in 2013
ASTANA. April 18 (Interfax) - OJSC Varvarinskoye, the Kazakhstan-based subsidiary of Polymetal International, which is developing the Varvrinskoye gold deposit, aims to keep production level with 2012 this year, said the company's CEO Nikolai Goncharov.
"In 2012, the company produced about 3.5 tonnes of gold equivalent. In 2013, we expect the same output. We have budgeted for a price of $750 per ounce of gold equivalent," Goncharov told Interfax.
Goncharov also said that recently the company has been developing steadily. "The price fluctuation that we have seen will pose a risk only to some investment programs that may be suspended, with no other risks involved," he added.
He said that in 2011-2012 the company put into operation 12 capital construction projects with capital expenditures reaching 300 million tenge (150.99/$1). Capital investments last year amounted to about 3.5 billion tenge, he added.
Polymetal bought the Varvarinskoye gold and copper deposit in the Kostanai region from Kazakh company Orsu Metals in November 2009. The deposit's reserves were estimated at 36.4 million tonnes of ore (1.335 million ounces of gold), and resources were estimated at 92.2 million tonnes of ore (3.103 million oz of gold).
Last year Polymetal announced plans to invest about $10 million in modernizing Varvarinskoye. Most of the money will be spent on mining equipment, and a small part will be used for reconstruction at the plant to enable it to process ore from other mines. The company took out a 7.5-year, $100-million credit from the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) to develop projects in Kazakhstan and is considering acquiring two assets in the country, not far from Varvarinskoye.