PJSC Polyus plans to invest 30 billion rubles ($313.3 million) in a heap leaching (HL) plant at the Southern group of gold deposits of the Kuranakh ore field, RIA Novosti reports.
The company signed an agreement on an investment project with the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation at the VIII Eastern Economic Forum.
The technology makes it possible to extract gold from low grade ore up to 0.7 g/t. This will allow to use stockpiled reserves of about 60 million tons of ore for processing. Recovery rate is more than 70%.
Polyus Aldan (part of Polyus) is developing a group of Kuranakh deposits. The company is currently modernizing the HL facility to increase its capacity to 5 million tons per year. In future it plans to launch the HL-South plant with a capacity of up to 12 million tons of ore per year. In 2022, Polyus Aldan produced 7.5 tons of gold.
As reported, Polyus plans to increase gold production by 12% by the end of 2023, to 2.8 - 2.9 million ounces at cash costs of $475 - $525 per ounce. Total capital investments are planned in the amount of $1.3 - $1.4 billion.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished
