Polyus Gold hopes to secure exploration permit for Bamskoye deposit in 2013
MOSCOW. April 16 (Interfax) - Polyus Gold International Ltd, the company that controls leading Russian gold miner Polyus Gold , hopes to receive a permit for geological exploration and mining operations at the Bamskoye hard rock gold deposit in Amur Region this year, the company said in a preliminary prospectus for a bond issue.
The application for the permit was submitted to the authorities in the first quarter of 2013. Polyus Gold's license to the Bamskoye deposit was suspended because after it was issued the deposit was deemed a resource property of federal importance. As a result, the company was forced to halt all exploration work until regulators issue a permit.
The section on risks in the prospectus for Polyus Gold's planned bond issue states the license to this deposit might be revoked if the authorities refuse to issue a permit to continue exploration. In that case, the law on subsoil resources provides for compensation of costs borne by the license holder on exploration and assessment of resources at the deposit, as well as the refund of one-off payments for resource rights specified in the license.
The company had previously considered launching a $232 million gold recovery plant at Bamskoye with capacity to process 1 million tonnes of ore and produce about 100,000 ounces of gold annually by 2016.
Bamskoye is part of the Nevachanskaya gold field in the northern part of Amur Region, which borders China. The deposit has C1 and C2 category gold reserves of 3.5 million ounces.