Pokrovskiy - Production
Mining operations at Pokrovskiy are performed entirely utilising a mining fleet owned by the Peter Hambro Mining Group. The fleet includes 45 tonne capacity BelAZ trucks, EKG-5 excavators and Caterpillar bulldozers. Roads have been constructed to bear the weight of this machinery.
The annualised capacity of the resin in pulp (RIP) plant has increased from 750,000 tonnes of oxidised ore in 2002 to 2.2 mt in 2006. This productivity increase was principally accomplished through the expansion of the RIP plant's circuit. Plant recovery has varied significantly over the period from 1999 to 2008. The plant recovery was 90 per cent. in 2007 and in 2008 it was 87 per cent. Currently the plant is treating 1.7 mt of primary ore per year, which is lower than the plant's design capacity due to the additional crushing and grinding required for hard primary ore. At present there are no plans for future expansion works to increase the capacity of the RIP plant and the Pokrovskiy ore bodies are scheduled to supply material for the plant until the end of 2012.
Some high grade material from the Pioneer deposit is used to produce an optimal blended mix to be processed through the Pokrovskiy mill. It is expected that the Pokrovskiy Satellite Deposits will contribute ore for the plant from 2012.
The annual tonnage of ore treated through the heap-leach operations has increased from 81,000 tonnes in 2002 to 785,000 tonnes in 2008. After construction of more efficient resin in pulp (RIP) operations at the Pokrovskiy mine, high grade ore is being treated through the RIP plant and, as a result, the average head grade of ore processed through the heap-leach process has reduced from 7.5g/t of gold in 1999 to 0.8g/t in 2008. Optimisation of the heap-leach in previous years has allowed relatively high gold recoveries (64.7 per cent. in 2008) even on low grade material (0.8g/t). Gold production at the Pokrovskiy mine has increased since commissioning in 1999 to 267,100 oz per annum in 2008, out of the Peter Hambro Mining Group's total attributable production of approximately 393,600 oz. The production figure in 2008 of 267,100 oz, represented an increase of 13 per cent. compared to 2007 and exceeded the Company's production target for 2008 (225,000 oz) by 19 per cent. This was achieved against a 14 per cent. drop in average grade produced by the Pokrovskiy pit in 2008, which led to a 19 per cent. reduction in gold produced from the pit compared to 2007, although this remained in line with the Group's mining plan. This was compensated by the addition of some high grade material from the Pioneer deposit to produce an optimal mix for the RIP plant. It is currently expected that, with ongoing maintenance, similar levels of production from the heap-leach operations will be maintained until at least 2012 and it is currently expected that similar levels of production to current levels from the RIP plant will be maintained until 2011 with gold production through the plant decreasing by c.30 per cent. in 2012.
It is planned that the current rate of production within the Pokrovskiy mine as a whole will, as described above, continue until 2011 and then drop by 30 per cent. in 2012 when the main Pokrovskiy pit is expected to be exhausted. The Company is carrying on exploration works at the edges of the main pit to add further reserves and resources, which may allow for production from the main pit beyond 2012. In 2008, exploration works both on the northern and southern edges of the pit indicated additional high-grade oxidized reserves for Pokrovskiy. It is currently planned that after 2012, production will move to a series of smaller open pits termed the "Pokrovskiy Satellite Deposits," which are currently estimated to have 558 koz of gold reserves in Categories C1 and C2 and 646 koz of gold resources in Category P1. The average grade of the Pokrovskiy Satellite Deposits is lower than the current Pokrovskiy mine. Further exploration works are being carried out at a number of prospective areas within the Pokrovskiy Satellite Deposits with a view to increasing the reserves and resources base to replenish the Pokrovskiy mine main pit reserves.
