SIGNIFICANT MINERAL RESERVES INCREASE AT KAZZINC

RNS Number : 6434Y

Glencore International PLC

05 March 2012

 



BAAR, SWITZERLAND                                                                                                                                                           5 March 2012

GLENCORE ANNOUNCES SIGNIFICANT MINERAL RESERVES INCREASE AT KAZZINC

Glencore International plc today announces significant increases in the total mineral reserves at the Vasilkovskoye, Maleevsky and Ridder-Sokolny deposits operated by Kazzinc as a result of further exploration drilling and technical studies with contained Gold up 50%, contained Copper up 136% and contained Zinc up 67%.

The new mineral statement estimates Kazzinc's reserves of total contained gold at 14,448ktoz, total contained silver at 76,197ktoz, total contained copper at 745.3kt, total contained lead at 738.9kt and total contained zinc at 3,374.4kt.

Key summary:

Vasilkovskoye:

·      Vasilkovskoye contained gold reserves increased by 29% to 9,462ktoz compared to the previous report, including the effects of depletion.

Maleevsky:

·      Maleevsky reserves increased by 88% compared to the previous report, including the effects of depletion. Reserves of all five metals were increased. Contained gold increased by 214% to 300ktoz, silver by 93% to 37,658ktoz, copper by 100% to 354.5kt, lead by 77% to 179.1kt and zinc by 71% to 1,078.5kt.

Ridder-Sokolny:

·      Ridder-Sokolny reserves increased by 94% compared to the previous report, including the effects of depletion. Reserves of all five metals were increased. Contained gold increased by 283% to 2,291ktoz, silver by 55% to 9,757ktoz, copper by 245% to 203.1kt, lead by 39% to 92.3kt and zinc by 48% to 199.4kt.

Commenting on the upgrade, Nick Popovic, Chairman of the Management Board of Kazzinc, said:

"This drilling and technical studies campaign has confirmed our evaluation of the high quality deposits we have at Kazzinc. We believe these reserves will create substantial value for our shareholders in the years ahead."

Detailed reserves breakdown below:

				Reserves				Resources
Operating Mines1, 2			Proved	Probable	Total		Measured	Indicated	Inferred	Total
Vasilkovskoye
	Ore	'000 MT	131 080	31 350	162 430		171 000	104 310	40 880	316 190
	Gold	Content, g/t	1.89	1.49	1.81		1.79	1.33	1.72	1.63
	Gold	Amount, '000 toz	7 960	1 502	9 462		9 841	4 460	2 261	16 562
Maleevsky
	Ore	'000 MT	13 280	5 380	18 660		16 820	5 240	5 170	27 220
	Gold	Content, g/t	0.54	0.40	0.50		0.64	0.56	0.25	0.55
	Silver	Content, g/t	69.08	47.20	62.77		81.91	65.13	50.11	72.64
	Copper	Content, %	2.13	1.36	1.90		2.49	1.79	1.16	2.10
	Lead	Content, %	0.98	0.91	0.96		1.17	1.23	1.79	1.30
	Zinc	Content, %	5.95	5.35	5.78		6.92	7.08	5.82	6.74
Ridder-Sokolniy3
	Ore	'000 MT	9 070	27 850	36 920		24 450	67 780	32 940	125 170
	Gold	Content, g/t	1.25	2.15	1.93		1.58	2.16	1.56	1.89
	Silver	Content, g/t	5.96	8.80	8.22		10.23	9.27	9.26	9.45
	Copper	Content, %	0.64	0.52	0.55		0.72	0.64	0.47	0.61
	Lead	Content, %	0.24	0.25	0.25		0.37	0.33	0.32	0.34
	Zinc	Content, %	0.60	0.52	0.54		0.87	0.68	0.72	0.73
Tishinsky
	Ore	'000 MT	18 200	4 900	23 100		25 360	7 960	5 020	38 340
	Gold	Content, g/t	0.53	0.47	0.52		0.55	0.42	0.27	0.48
	Silver	Content, g/t	7.99	9.36	8.28		8.04	6.94	8.44	7.86
	Copper	Content, %	0.52	0.40	0.49		0.53	0.40	0.50	0.50
	Lead	Content, %	0.91	0.88	0.91		0.85	0.72	1.41	0.90
	Zinc	Content, %	4.19	4.13	4.18		4.09	3.69	3.77	3.96
Staroye Tailings Dam 4
	Ore	'000 MT	-	3 580	3 580		-	4 420	2 790	7 210
	Gold	Content, g/t	-	1.13	1.13		-	1.14	0.96	1.07
	Silver	Content, g/t	-	11.83	11.83		-	12.36	10.96	11.82
	Copper	Content, %	-	0.04	0.04		-	0.04	0.04	0.04
	Lead	Content, %	-	0.34	0.34		-	0.34	0.29	0.32
	Zinc	Content, %	-	0.74	0.74		-	0.74	0.62	0.69
Shaimerden Stockpiles
	Ore	'000 MT	-	2 390	2 390		-	2 480	-	2 480
	Zinc	Content, %	-	21.60	21.60		-	21.71	-	21.71

				Reserves				Resources
Development Projects 1, 2			Proved	Probable	Total		Measured	Indicated	Inferred	Total
Dolinnoye
	Ore	'000 MT	3 660	960	4 620		4 010	3 040	3 830	10 880
	Gold	Content, g/t	3.93	2.38	3.61		4.47	2.51	2.11	3.09
	Silver	Content, g/t	53.76	29.82	48.77		61.83	34.03	29.54	42.70
	Copper	Content, %	0.20	0.14	0.19		0.24	0.14	0.20	0.20
	Lead	Content, %	0.75	0.50	0.70		0.92	0.51	0.68	0.72
	Zinc	Content, %	1.41	1.02	1.33		1.76	1.01	1.26	1.37
Obruchevskoye
	Ore	'000 MT	890	3 250	4 140		2 710	5 510	5 240	13 460
	Gold	Content, g/t	1.73	0.90	1.08		1.76	0.51	0.51	0.76
	Silver	Content, g/t	42.80	33.21	35.26		65.37	22.15	36.42	36.41
	Copper	Content, %	0.81	0.83	0.82		1.51	1.05	0.95	1.24
	Lead	Content, %	4.27	2.66	3.01		0.42	0.37	0.36	0.39
	Zinc	Content, %	8.98	6.50	7.03		2.46	2.06	1.77	2.16
Chashinskoye Tailings Dam
	Ore	'000 MT	-	55 500	55 500		-	57 800	30 000	87 800
	Gold	Content, g/t	-	0.67	0.67		-	0.67	0.50	0.61
	Silver	Content, g/t	-	5.13	5.13		-	5.16	4.57	4.96
	Copper	Content, %	-	0.05	0.05		-	0.05	0.06	0.05
	Lead	Content, %	-	0.15	0.15		-	0.15	0.19	0.16
	Zinc	Content, %	-	0.38	0.38		-	0.38	0.45	0.40
Tishinsky Tailings Dam
	Ore	'000 MT	-	1 100	1 100		-	1 150	-	1 150
	Gold	Content, g/t	-	0.38	0.38		-	0.38	-	0.38
	Silver	Content, g/t	-	5.10	5.10		-	5.13	-	5.13
	Copper	Content, %	-	0.23	0.23		-	0.23	-	0.23
	Lead	Content, %	-	0.44	0.44		-	0.44	-	0.44
	Zinc	Content, %	-	2.25	2.25		-	2.26	-	2.26

¹ The information in the tables above, in relation to mineral resources and ore reserves, have been estimated in accordance with the guidelines of the JORC Code (2004) and are dated as of 1 January 2012.

² Remaining mine life: different for each mine, ranging from eight to 21 years. Expiry date of relevant mining/concession licences: different for each mine, ranging from 19 May 2013 to 7 November 2030.

3 Mineral resources and ore reserves for Ridder-Sokolniy have been completed for a significant part of the deposit, however there are still some outstanding results.

4 The grades of copper and zinc for the depletion of the Staroye Tailings have been estimated from assumptions based upon the known proportion of other metals within the tailings due to a lack of grade data.

Note: rounding errors may occur

Competent Persons: the mineral resource and ore reserve estimates set out above were reviewed and approved by Phil Newall of WAI. The mineral resource and ore reserve estimates have been prepared in accordance with the JORC Code. Mr Newall is a Competent Person as defined by JORC and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking.

For further information, please contact:

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About Glencore International plc

Glencore is one of the world's leading integrated producers and marketers of commodities, headquartered in Baar, Switzerland, and listed on the London and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges.

Glencore has worldwide activities in the production, sourcing, processing, refining, transporting, storage, financing and supply of Metals and Minerals, Energy Products and Agricultural Products.

 

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