BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 9
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Polymetal company has announced a 25 percent increase in Ore Reserves at Kazakhstan’s Kyzyl mine to 10.3 million ounces of gold following initial reserve estimate at East Bakyrchik mine of 2.2 million ounces of gold, Trend reports citing the company.
The company said that the initial JORC-compliant Ore Reserve estimate for East Bakyrchik (Zone 2 of Kyzyl) as of April 1, 2020, comprises 18.8 million tons of ore at an average grade of 3.7 g/t containing 2.2 million ounces of gold, roughly 80 percent of which are underground.
Thus, total Kyzyl Ore Reserves now stand at 59.3 million tons of ore with an average grade of 5.4 g/t containing 10.3 million ounces of gold. This represents a 25 percent increase compared with the estimate at the end of 2019.
Open-pit reserves increased by 9 percent to 4.3 million ounces of gold contained at an average grade of 4.9 g/t, underground reserves were up 40 percent to 6 million ounces at an average grade of 5.8 g/t.
In turn, East Bakyrchik has added 5 years to the total Kyzyl life of mine (2050), while life-of-mine (LOM) for the open pit has extended by 6 years (to 2036). East Bakyrchik's open-pit LOM average strip ratio is 27 t/t.
“The new mining schedule assumes an increase in the capacity of the Kyzyl processing plant from 2.0 million tons per annum to 2.2 million tons per annum in 2022. East Bakyrchik Ore Reserve estimate incorporates data from the exploration campaign in 2015-2020 including 29.9 km of drilling (168 diamond drill holes),” the company said.
Total Kyzyl Mineral Resources (additional to Ore Reserves) amount to 15.6 million tons of ore with an average grade of 4.0 g/t representing 2.0 million ounces of gold contained.
Polymetal International plc is a top-10 global gold producer and top-5 global silver producer with assets in Russia and Kazakhstan. The Company combines strong growth with a robust dividend yield.
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