(Alliance News) - Gold miner Polymetal International PLC has doubled the gold ore reserve at the Kutyn project in the Far East region of Russia.
Kutyn is located in the Khabarovsk territory, some 114 kilometres north-west of Polymetal's Albazino mine and 10 kilometres from the Sea of Okhotsk. It was purchased in 2011, but activity was stopped in late 2014 and the project put up for sale.
Exploration did restart in 2017, however. The mine was earmarked for sale due to its small size compared to other assets in Polymetal's portfolio, the company said.
The ore reserve has now been doubled to 8.4 million tonnes of ore, as of October 1, at an average grade of 3.0 grams of gold per tonne giving 812,000 ounces of gold.
This growth, Polymetal said, is due to an update to the geological model following more than 30 kilometres of drilling carried out between 2017 and 2019.
In 2020, Polymetal plans 13 kilometres of exploration drilling to continue converting resources to reserves, and will also look at permitting and building a permanent road between the sea access point and the mine.
Chief Executive Vitaly Nesis said: "The new reserve estimate significantly enhances the value of Kutyn for a potential acquirer or partner.
"We continue to evaluate various strategic options and plan to announce a transaction in the second half of 2020."
Polymetal shares were 0.4% lower on Wednesday morning in London at a price of 1,288.50 pence each.
By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com
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