Thursday, October 20 2016 18:19

ArmInfo. Since acquisition of Kapan mine by Polymetal International in late April 2016 by September 30 amount of mined ore totaled 181 thousand tons. According to the official report of the company, in recent three months alone 112 thousand tons of ore were mined. The length of underground developed for mining totaled 5.938 meters, and 3.537 meters in Q3 alone.

According to the report, average content of metals in ore in 5 months (May-September) totaled: gold, g/t 2.3, silver-g/t 46, copper-0.3%, zinc- 1.6%.  Recovery gold totaled- 85.2% , silver-83.8%, copper-91.9%, zinc- 91.3%. Total production was: gold Koz-9.9, silver-Moz 0.2, copper- kt 0.4, Zinc- kt  2.0.

According to the company's statement at Kapan, integration activities and modifications to operating practices are ongoing and include changes to the motivation system, productivity gap analysis, as well as targeted in-fill drilling. The best practices from other underground operations in Polymetal's portfolio are being implemented by teams comprising local and seconded employees. In-fill and step-out drilling is underway at Lichkvaz, a satellite deposit that should provide additional tonnage to the existing concentrator.

An improvement of the concentrator utilization at Kapan mine (acquired by Polymetal International in 2016) is planned in 2 stages: 650 ktpa to be achieved by 2H 2017, and 900 ktpa to be achieved by 2H 2018 (including feed from Lichkvaz), the website of Polymetal reports.

Polymetal believes that the acquisition of Kapan is attractive as it provides the opportunity to:  a)Enable synergies with Lichkvaz deposit by employing processing hub approach utilising excess capacity at the Kapan concentrator; b)Debottleneck underground mine and improve concentrator utilization; c)Streamline the cost structure leveraging Polymetal's experience in mechanised narrow- vein underground mining in the FSU; d)Establish a strong operating platform to pursue further opportunities in Armenia.

Earlier ArmInfo reported that Polymetal International plc (LSE, MOEX:  POLY, ADR:  AUCOY) (together with its subsidiaries - "Polymetal", the "Company", or the "Group") announced the successful completion of an audit of Mineral Resources by CSA Global Pty Ltd ("CSA Global") for the 100%-owned Lichkvaz project, the company's website reports.  The source said that total underground Mineral Resources in accordance with the 2012 JORC Code confirmed by independent auditors, CSA Global, comprised of 4.3 Mt of ore averaging 4.2 g/t for 0.6 Moz of gold equivalent.  Lichkvaz is located in the Meghri area of the Syunik-Marz province of southern Armenia, 380 km south of Yerevan. The infrastructure in the area is well- developed with power, water, accommodation and a skilled labour force readily available. The main economic elements at the deposit are gold and copper, with silver considered a by-product.  Polymetal intends to transport ore mined at Lichkvaz 70 km to the Kapan concentrator for processing. The acquisition of the Kapan concentrator together with the underground mine and related infrastructure was completed by Polymetal on 28 April 2016 (details of the transaction were provided in the press releases dated 2 March and 28 April 2016).  Polymetal is a leading gold and silver mining group, operating in Russia and Kazakhstan.  Company's shares are listed on London and Moscow Stock Exchanges. Polymetal is a constituent of FTSE 250 and FTSE Gold mines.