Azernews.Az

By Fatma Babayeva

Polymetal International plc, the leading precious metals mining company in Russia, has signed a deal to purchase Orion Minerals- the company which holds license for the Komarovsky gold deposit located in the northeastern part of Kazakhstan, the Russian company reported.

The agreement was signed with the Kazakh company Kazzinc, a subsidiary of Glencore plc. The completion of the deal is expected to take place in 2016 depending on receiving approvals from the relevant regulatory bodies in Kazakhstan.

Komarovsky is a low-sulfide quartz gold deposit. The estimated reserves amount to 28 million tons with a gold content of 1.5 gram / ton (approximately 1.4 million ounces) at the end of 2015. Resources evaluated only to a depth of 280 meters, while the mineralization traced down to 450 meters.

The asset comprises an active open pit mine and a 500 ktpa heap leach facility with grid power available on site. Mining at the property commenced in 2006 and has been focused on the oxide mineralization, which now is largely depleted. Over 200 ounces of gold was produced so far.

Mining of primary ore and its sale to Varvara commenced in 2010. A total of over 1 Mt at an average grade of 2.5 g/t have been processed at Varvara in 2010-2013 with average recovery of 88%.

The initial investment is expected to be less than US$ 5 million as mine fleet will be mostly transferred from Varavara and complemented by contractors. Ore processing at Varvara plant is expected to start within three months after transaction completes.

In accordance with the financial statements of 2015, the value of the gross assets of the company is subject for the transaction which amounts to $28 million, and the loss before tax deduction related to these assets equals to $23 000.

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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

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