Russian precious metals producer Polymetal International has agreed to buy 7% in a joint venture that develops the Nezhdaninskoye gold ore field and acquired an option to buy the remaining 75.3% in the venture and raise its stake to 100%, Polymetal said in a statement on July 17.
“Polymetal International has agreed to acquire an additional 7% in the joint venture Nezhdaninskoye gold deposit (“Nezhda”) from its partner, Ivan Kulakov. Simultaneously, Polymetal has acquired an option to buy out the remaining 75.3% in Nezhda,” the company said.
Polymetal also prepared a resource estimate of the field amounting to 71 million tons of mineralized metal containing 11 million ounces of gold equivalent at an average grade of 4.8 grams per ton, the company said.
“Exploration at Nezhda confirmed a very large high-grade property with substantial open-pit potential. The asset fits perfectly with Polymetal’s core competencies in refractory ore processing and remote asset development. We are very pleased that the new terms of the agreement on Nezhda give us significant decision-making flexibility and offer Polymetal a clear path to consolidating full ownership in this highly prospective asset,” the company cited CEO Vitaly Nesis as saying. (Prime/Ukrainian metal)