Magadan Region mines 17% more gold in Jan-Nov
MAGADAN. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Gold mine output in Magadan Region grew by nearly 17% year-on-year to more than 20 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2012.
"Of the 20 tonnes of gold mined, 13 tonnes came from alluvial deposits and more than 7 tonnes from hardrock deposits. Compared to the same period of 2011, the increase amounted to more than 2.8 tonnes. The last time there was such a result was in 2005," a representative of the regional natural resources department told Interfax.
"This growth was due to the active development of the Birkachan, Sopka Kvartsevaya and Zona Tsokolnaya hardrock deposits," he said.
The strongest results were in the Yagodninsky district, which mined 5,692.3 kg of gold in the period. The Susuman district was second with 4,808.5 kg and the Severo-Evensk district was third with 3,854.7 kg.
The region also mined more than 770 tonnes of silver in the eleven months, over 80 tonnes more than a year earlier, the department representative said.
The regional administration's press service reported that Magadan Region Governor Nikolai Dudov believes the region could become one of Russia's top three gold mining regions in 2012. It was sixth in 2011.
The optimistic forecasts are based on the development of the Yano-Kolyma gold belt. The resources of the part of the belt that is in Magadan Region are estimated at 5,000 tonnes of gold.
"Gold mine production has been growing steadily in recent years. In 2016, several times more precious metal will be mined in the region than now," Dudov said. "A huge portion of these resources will be mined at a few sites: Natalka, Pavlik, Rodionovskoye and Degdekan. We expect a considerable positive change in the social and economic climate in Kolyma. Local budget revenues will increase. This means that we will be able to implement new social programs, improve the general quality of life of the population," the governor said.
Nine of the 14 Yano-Kolyma belt deposits are in Magadan Region and the other five are in Yakutia.
It was previously expected that the region's miners would increase production to 19.2 tonnes of gold and 785 tonnes of silver in 2012. Magadan Region mined 18.202 tonnes of gold and 777.875 tonnes of silver in 2011, respectively 7.1% and 14.8% more than in 2010.