Russian gold producer Polymetal International has signed the first sales contract for its Kyzyl field in Kazakhstan and will sell gold concentrate to a partner that has been buying much gold concentrate from the Maisky field for over two years, the company said in a statement on February 21.
The partner will buy at least 50% of the gold concentrate produced at the field in 2018. Polymetal will transport it to the port of Vladivostok by railway, while the buyer will transport the concentrate for further processing to Eastern China or to any other region, Polymetal said.
Experts estimate that the company may sell no less than 1.5 tons of gold concentrate under the contract, taking into account the field’s expected production capacity of about 10 tons of gold per year and the fact that the company plans to receive the first batch of gold concentrate from the Kyzyl field in mid-August.
Initially, the company planned to process concentrate at its capacities at the Amur ore mining and processing facility, but it does not rule out selling 100% of the Kyzyl field’s output in future.
A feasibility study of the Kyzyl project included production of 325,000 ounces, or 10,100 tons of gold concentrate per year over the first 10 years of the field’s exploitation, with the average gold content of 108 grams per ton. Average combined costs are estimated at $630 per ounce of gold, and average costs may reach $591 per ounce. (Prime/Ukrainian metal)