Exploration licences for gold properties in the Magadan region of northeastern Russia have been granted to nine companies, including Broken Hill Proprietary of Australia and Omolon Gold.
BHP acquired the rights to the Vodorazdelnaya property, situated in western Magadan, whereas Omolon Gold (in which Cyprus Amax Minerals holds a 50% interest) acquired the rights to the Berkacha and Avlana properties, in Magadan’s North Evenki district.
The Vodorazdelnaya property contains a quartz-vein gold deposit estimated to contain 13.5 tonnes of gold.
The Berkacha and Avlanda properties, which are covered by one exploration licence, border the US$228-million Kubaka open-pit gold mine of Omolon Gold.
Magadan-based Geometall holds a 27.5% interest in Omolon, with the remainder divided among four other Russian concerns.
Reserves at Kubaka stand at 4.9 million tonnes grading 0.54 oz. per ton, equivalent to 2.6 million contained ounces. The mine is expected to produce 350,000 oz. gold per year.
Licences were granted to other Magadan-based companies, including Carbon Trade Kolyma, Dukatgeologiya, Zolotaya Kolyma and Geometall. Each licence is valid for five years, with an option to increase the duration of the permit to 20 properties should economic deposits be identified.
In related news, construction of the Magadan region’s first gold refinery, which was to be commissioned in September, will not be completed until at least December. Once up and running, the US$10-million project will have the capacity to produce 40 tonnes of bullion per year. Feed will be supplied by local lode miners, as well as by the Kubaka mine.
Most of the gold produced in the far eastern region is refined at a plant in Kasimov, a city near Moscow.
— With files from Interfax News Agency.
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