Polymetal doubles estimates at Russian Albazino project

Precious metals giant Polymetal has announced a significant increase in mineral resources at its Albazino project in the Khabarovsk territory, Russia.

The miner said that as of August 1st, mineral resources at Albazino were estimated at 37Mt with an average grade of 4.8g/t of gold (Au) containing 5.7Moz of Au.

The previous estimate was around half this size: as of January 1st, resources were predicted to be 19Mt at 4.5 g/t Au containing 2.8 Moz of Au.

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"Once again, exploration results at Albazino highlight the tremendous potential of this asset and pave the way for the expansion decision to be taken in the second half of 2013," said Vitaly Nesis, Chief Executive Officer of Polymetal.

"Albazino is an excellent example of Polymetal's ability to create value by discovering high-grade ounces close to existing processing facilities".

The company said that active exploration at the site is ongoing with further mineral resource potential identified. In-fill underground drilling in the first half of next year is "expected to lead to a substantial upgrade of inferred resources and allow meaningful resource-to-reserve conversion."

The completion of the optimisation study is expected in the second quarter of 2013.