Thursday, March 22 2018 16:25

ArmInfo.  The volume of  investments of the Russian mining company Polymetal in Armenia in  2017 amounted to $ 24 million, according to the company's official  report for the past year, the investments mainly related to the  purchase of equipment for underground mining and exploration near the  current field in Syunik region, including drilling at the  Lichkvaz-Teyskoye field.

Certain investments were also aimed at  implementing a number of initiatives to improve safety and reduce the  company's impact on the environment. In particular, the centralized  ventilation system in the mine, tailing dumps, water treatment and  water treatment stations for reuse was modernized.

In total for 2016-2017 the total investment of Polymetal in the  Syunik region of Armenia amounted to about $ 37 million. According to  the company's message, at its Kapan mine in 2017, gold equivalent  production almost doubled in comparison with 2016 and amounted to 1.6  tons in gold equivalent. Good operational indicators were associated  with increased processing volumes and improved ore content, as  ongoing measures to increase underground mine productivity and  extraction levels were introduced. Cash costs per ounce of gold  equivalent amounted to 871 US dollars, with an average level for the  group of 658 US dollars.

The indicator of Kapan MEP has improved by 3% compared to the  previous year, thanks to the production and financial improvement of  the enterprise, as well as the ongoing introduction of measures to  eliminate bottlenecks in underground mining. At the same time, the  enterprise purchased more expensive extraneous ore to load the  existing capacities of the processing plant.

Revenue in 2017 at Kapan mine was $ 66 million, adjusted EBITDA - $  20 million. As it was informed earlier, the total payments of  Polymetal enterprises to the state budget of Armenia in 2017.  amounted to 6.5 billion drams. The Company's social investments in  the Republic of Armenia in 2017 amounted to 400 million drams, of  which 190 million drams - direct investments in the social  infrastructure of Syunik region.

Group Polymetal is one of the leaders in the extraction of precious  metals, which has assets in Russia, Kazakhstan and Armenia. Shares of  Polymetal are traded on the London and Moscow stock exchanges. The  company is included in the indexes of FTSE 250 and FTSE Gold Mines.  The company owns eight operating gold and silver deposits, as well as  an upscale portfolio of development projects.

According to the report on the financial results of the group, in  2017 revenues amounted to $ 1,815 million, adjusted EBITDA - $ 745  million, adjusted net profit - $ 376 million. According to the  production results, the total annual production in gold equivalent  was 44.6 tons, the annual gold production - 33.4 tons, silver  production - 833.5 tons.

The company confirms the production plan for 2018 and 2019 in the  amount of 48.2 tons and 52.9 tons of gold equivalent, respectively.  In 2018 it is planned to start production in Kyzyl (Kazakhstan),  which is expected to start generating free cash flow soon after  reaching the design targets. At the same time, the company will  continue to concentrate its efforts on maintaining excellent  production results at operating enterprises and on the development of  long-term growth projects, including the Forecast and the Viksha.

In 2018, further production growth is expected, the source of which  will mainly be Kyzyl, Komarovskoye (Varvarinskoye hub) after reaching  the design capacity of 2.2 million tons per year, as well as stable  performance of operating enterprises.