Board approves expansion at the Amursk POX plant

RNS Number : 7563H

Polymetal International PLC

22 August 2016

 

Release time	IMMEDIATE
Date	22 August 2016

Polymetal International plc

Board approves expansion at the Amursk POX plant

Polymetal International plc (LSE, MOEX: POLY; ADR: AUCOY) (together with its subsidiaries - "Polymetal", the "Company", or the "Group") is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has approved the debottlenecking project at the Amursk POX plant.

HIGHLIGHTS

·    The debottlenecking project will expand the capacity of the existing POX plant by approximately 50% in terms of concentrate processed. The key additions to the equipment will comprise a second oxygen plant, an autoclave discharge thickener, separate filters for thickener underflow, and upgrades for heat recovery and water treatment systems.

·    The project will enable Polymetal to retain approximately 50% of the Kyzyl concentrate for in-house treatment as opposed to a 3^rd party off-take. Kyzyl's flowsheet envisions gravity separation of the collective flotation concentrate into high-carbon and low-carbon streams. Extensive internal and external metallurgical and mineralogical testing confirmed the feasibility of treating the low-carbon material through the current POX circuit at Amursk.

·    POX processing is expected to improve effective gold recovery from concentrate by 3-4 percentage points as well as to bring down processing and transportation costs by US$ 150-250 per tonne of concentrate. An alternative processing route will strengthen Polymetal's commercial position on the concentrate market vis-à-vis off-takers.

·    Polymetal plans to ramp up the debottlenecked POX plant to full expanded capacity in the second half of 2018, in time to take first feed from the Kyzyl concentrator. Associated capital expenditure is estimated at US$ 55 million including contingency, to be predominantly incurred during 2017 and 2018.

·    Polymetal is continuing to undertake extensive metallurgical testwork and evaluate its ability to use high-temperature (230-240C) POX technology to process high-carbon Kyzyl concentrate and third-party feedstocks. A decision is expected in late 2018 or early 2019, in conjunction with the ramp-up of Kyzyl and an investment decision on Nezhdaninskoye project.

"We believe capital-light debottlenecking of the Amursk POX plant is the best approach given the steady increase in Polymetal's refractory reserve base", said Vitaly Nesis, Group CEO of Polymetal. "The project leverages existing infrastructure and skills base to strengthen our competitive advantage in the industry and materially improve the economics of our flagship Kyzyl project".

Enquiries

Media		Investor Relations
FTI Consulting  Leonid Fink Jenny Payne	[phone]	Polymetal Maxim Nazimok Evgenia Onuschenko Maryana Nesis	[e-mail] [phone] (Russia) [phone] (UK)
Joint Corporate Brokers
Morgan Stanley Sam McLennan Richard Brown	[phone]	RBC Europe Limited Tristan Lovegrove Marcus Jackson	[phone]

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

THIS RELEASE MAY INCLUDE STATEMENTS THAT ARE, OR MAY BE DEEMED TO BE, "FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS". THESE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS SPEAK ONLY AS AT THE DATE OF THIS RELEASE. THESE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS CAN BE IDENTIFIED BY THE USE OF FORWARD-LOOKING TERMINOLOGY, INCLUDING THE WORDS "TARGETS", "BELIEVES", "EXPECTS", "AIMS", "INTENDS", "WILL", "MAY", "ANTICIPATES", "WOULD", "COULD" OR "SHOULD" OR SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS OR, IN EACH CASE THEIR NEGATIVE OR OTHER VARIATIONS OR BY DISCUSSION OF STRATEGIES, PLANS, OBJECTIVES, GOALS, FUTURE EVENTS OR INTENTIONS. THESE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ALL INCLUDE MATTERS THAT ARE NOT HISTORICAL FACTS. BY THEIR NATURE, SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS INVOLVE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN RISKS, UNCERTAINTIES AND OTHER IMPORTANT FACTORS BEYOND THE COMPANY'S CONTROL THAT COULD CAUSE THE ACTUAL RESULTS, PERFORMANCE OR ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE COMPANY TO BE MATERIALLY DIFFERENT FROM FUTURE RESULTS, PERFORMANCE OR ACHIEVEMENTS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED BY SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ARE BASED ON NUMEROUS ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING THE COMPANY'S PRESENT AND FUTURE BUSINESS STRATEGIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE COMPANY WILL OPERATE IN THE FUTURE. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ARE NOT GUARANTEES OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE. THERE ARE MANY FACTORS THAT COULD CAUSE THE COMPANY'S ACTUAL RESULTS, PERFORMANCE OR ACHIEVEMENTS TO DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE EXPRESSED IN SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. THE COMPANY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY OBLIGATION OR UNDERTAKING TO DISSEMINATE ANY UPDATES OR REVISIONS TO ANY FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN TO REFLECT ANY CHANGE IN THE COMPANY'S EXPECTATIONS WITH REGARD THERETO OR ANY CHANGE IN EVENTS, CONDITIONS OR CIRCUMSTANCES ON WHICH ANY SUCH STATEMENTS ARE BASED.

 

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