17th Sep 2020 09:05
(Alliance News) - Polymetal International PLC on Thursday said a reserve estimate has reaffirmed that the Prognoz deposit in Russia is "one of the best silver development projects globally".
The initial JORC-compliant open-pit ore reserve estimate for the Prognoz deposit comprises 7.9 million tonnes of ore with an average silver grade of 560 grams per tonne containing 142 million ounces of silver, the Russian miner said.
The estimate is based on US15 per ounce of silver price, with silver representing approximately 90% of value contained at this price level.
Mineral resources additional to ore reserves are estimated at 5.6 million tonnes of mineralised material with an average grade of 552 grams per tonne for 100 million ounces of silver contained.
Polymetal said a preliminary feasibility study assumes nine years of open-pit mining with an average annual production of 13.5 million ounces of silver at an all-in sustaining cost of USD8 to USD9 per ounce.
Total capital expenditure for Prognoz is estimated at USD319 million, comprising USD250 million of pre-production capital expenditure and USD69 million of maintenance expenditure.
According to Polymetal, Prognoz deposit is the largest undeveloped primary silver deposit in Russia. The license is located in the Verkhoyansk municipal district in Sakha.
Chief Executive Officer Vitaly Nesis said: "We will continue to advance the project towards development".
The FTSE 100-listed company separately said that Chief Financial Officer Maxim Nazimok sold 11,700 shares at GBP19.76 each for a total of GBP231,243.
Shares in Polymetal were down 1.6% at 1,919.50 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
By Tapan Panchal; [email protected]
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