State approval of the discovery of the new Anenskoye gold deposit in the Krasnoyarsk Territory of Russia has been granted to Polymetal. Enisey Mining and Geological, a Polymetal subsidiary, received a state certificate listing it as the pioneer discoverers of the deposit. The certificate granted by the State Territorial Agency of Natural Resources lists the deposit’s discovery date as June 21, 2006.
The licensed Anenskiy field (11.8 km²) is located in the Sukhobuzimskiy Region of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The company obtained a license for a geological survey of the Anenskiy field, prospecting and estimating gold deposits on September 8, 2003. Polymetal carried out active prospecting work at the Anenskiy field in 2004-2005. Last year, Polymetal carried out detailed geochemical studies and conducted 5,400 m of prospect and test drilling, which resulted in the discovery of the Anenskoye deposit. As of December 31, 2005, the reserves approved by the state were 1.168 Mt of ore and 321,000 oz of gold with an average grade of 8.5 g/t gold and 20 g/t silver. The company sees the possibility of increasing the deposit’s scale to 32 t (1 Moz) of gold. The total resource potential of the licensed area is estimated at 60 t (2 Moz) of gold. The deposit within the Anenskiy field is considered to be a potentially promising independent project. The forecast type of mining is underground operations and gravitational flotation. The results of the estimation work at the Anenskiy field were summarized in a geological report for the state authorities. Polymetal plans to be one of Russia’s first companies to obtain a joint license for geological study and mining based on the right of ‘pioneer discoverer’ of the deposit. This procedure will allow the company to obtain mining rights and start to develop the deposit without an auction or any payments. Polymetal plans to continue exploration at the deposit through 2007-2009 after the conversion of the license. In addition the company plans to expand its activities to new areas within the region.
www.polymetal.ru
