Polymetal has announced that the autoclave vessel has been installed at its POX-2 construction site on schedule at its Amursk operations. Amursk POX-2 is designed for processing double-refractory ore and aimed to make 100% of the company’s refractory ore to be processed in-house.

POX-2 differs from POX-1 in the way that it will operate at two-times higher pressure and 40°C higher temperature, and it will use a larger and more advanced autoclave (one of the biggest in the world), lined with titanium rather than brick.

“The installation of the autoclave vessel is a crucial project milestone. We accomplished it on time despite the COVID-related restrictions and complex logistics. It marks our consistent progress towards start-up in Q3 2023,” said Vitaly Nesis, Group CEO of Polymetal.

The autoclave was assembled by Coek Engineering in Belgium. It has a length of 50 m, diameter of 6 m, weighs 1,100 t and is the largest in the gold industry globally. The vessel is made of steel and has a titanium lining. It will operate at a temperature of up to 240°С and pressure of 45 bar, which is the most effective regime for treating double-refractory concentrates.

The shipment of the autoclave has taken 55 days and 25,000 km. It departed from the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in late May and sailed to the Russian port of De Kastri in the Tatar Straits. There it was reloaded to a river barge and shipped to the city of Amursk. It was then transported to the POX-2 construction site by a multi-axle trailer truck. The total cost of the equipment and logistics amounted to approximately $27 million.