(Alliance News) - Petropavlovsk PLC on Tuesday said that it has launched its second flotation plant for processing gold ore and producing flotation concentrate gold at its Pioneer mine in Russia.
The London-based gold mining company said that once the plant is fully operational in July, it will be able to treat 3.6 million tonnes of gold ore and 100 kilo-tonnes of gold concentrate each year.
This facility doubles Petropavlovsk's capacity for processing refractory gold ore. In addition to the pre-existing Malomir flotation plant, the company's capacity now allows for 7.2 million tonnes of ore to be processed annually.
The company's major operating mines - Pioneer, Malomir and Albyn - along with its pressure oxidation hub at Pokrovskiy are located in the Amur region of the Russia Far East bordering China.
Petropavlovsk said that it is continuing with plans to build a third production line at its Malomir plant to increase output further. This proposed expansion would provide an additional 1.8 million tonnes of ore capacity each year from the third quarter of 2022.
The new combined total capacity of the company and its subsidiaries would be 9.0 million tonnes of ore processed per annum.
Chief Executive Officer Denis Alexandrov said: "The successful launch of the Pioneer flotation plant represents a key strategic milestone for the company. We are pleased to have commissioned the facility slightly ahead of the mid-year target we set when I joined the company last year. The new plant will enable Petropavlovsk to take full advantage of Pioneer's substantial refractory ore reserves while providing an additional source of own-mined concentrate for our state-of-the-art POX hub."
Petropavlovsk PLC shares were trading up 3.2% at 25.74 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
By Scarlett Butler; scarlettbutler@alliancenews.com
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