Start-up of Kyzyl and first concentrate

RNS Number : 5668S

Polymetal International PLC

26 June 2018

 

Release time	IMMEDIATE
Date	26 June 2018

 

Polymetal International plc

Start-up of Kyzyl and delivery of first concentrate production   

Polymetal International plc (LSE, MOEX: POLY; ADR: AUCOY) ("Polymetal", the "Company") announces the start-up of the new Kyzyl mine in Kazakhstan ahead of schedule and below budget.

Following the completion of all construction and commissioning activities, Kyzyl has successfully produced first gold concentrate on June 25^th. Polymetal has achieved the start-up of the concentrator one quarter ahead of the original schedule that had been announced in 2014, and one month earlier compared with the January 2018 updated plan. Project Capex is expected to be approximately 3% below the original US$ 325 million budget, inclusive of 62 Mt of pre-stripping.

Mining activities have reached full design capacity with 315 kt of ore stockpiled ahead of start-up. The grade control program demonstrated robust reconciliation with the reserve model with both ore grade and gold contained tracking slightly above plan. First concentrate deliveries to off-takers are scheduled for the end of July with shipments to the Amursk POX expected to commence in September.

The Kyzyl concentrator now enters the 3-month ramp-up period, after which it is expected to reach nameplate capacity of 150 kt per month and recoveries of 86% by October 2018. Polymetal will host a site visit to Kyzyl for investors and analysts in October. This year Polymetal plans to produce 80 koz of payable gold at Kyzyl, ramping up production to 280 koz in 2019 and 330 koz thereafter at AISC of approximately US$ 500-550/oz. 

JORC-compliant gold reserves at Kyzyl are estimated at 7.3 Moz at 7.7 g/t of gold. This supports a life-of-mine of 10 years for the open pit followed by further 14 years of underground mining. Additional JORC-compliant gold resources comprise 3.1 Moz at 6.8 g/t indicating strong potential to further extend operations.

 "Polymetal is delighted and proud to successfully complete the largest development project in the company's history ahead of time and below budget", said Vitaly Nesis, Group CEO of Polymetal. "Significant cash flow and net income contributions from Kyzyl should start in Q4 2018."

Enquiries

Media		Investor Relations
FTI Consulting Leonid Fink Viktor Pomichal	[phone]	Polymetal Eugenia Onuschenko Maryana Nesis Michael Vasiliev	[e-mail] [phone] (UK) [phone] (Russia)
Joint Corporate Brokers
Morgan Stanley Andrew Foster Richard Brown Panmure Gordon Adam James James Stearns	[phone] [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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