OREANDA-NEWS. On July 16, 2007 OJSC Polyus Gold (RTS, MICEX and LSE – PLZL), Russia’s leading gold producer, announced the launch of a new mill (Mill-3) at its Olimpiada mine in Krasnoyarsk region. The Mill-3 became the largest sulfide ore processing plant in Russia, reported the press-centre of OJSC Polyus Gold.

The official launch ceremony took place July 16, 2007, at Olimpiada mine. Governor of Krasnoyarsk region Alexander Khloponin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Polyus Gold, and General Director of Polyus Gold Pavel Skitovich have participated in the ceremony. The event was attended by the high level officials of the federal and local authorities.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Polyus Gold Sergey Batekhin, commenting on the event said that “the shareholders of Polyus Gold consider development of the production facilities as one of the key priorities. The Company will continue to invest into development of new deposits and construction of new state-of-the-art gold mining complexes as it goes in line with its long-term strategy envisaging a three-fold production increase by the year 2015”.

General Director of Polyus Gold Pavel Skitovich noted: “I am pleased that the largest ore processing plant in Russia has been put into operation successfully and on schedule. This represents a major step forward not only for Polyus Gold but also for the whole Russian gold mining industry. Two-fold increase of Olimpiada mine’s ore processing capacity as well as further upgrade of the unique bio-oxidation technology will help us to unlock the rich potential of one of the largest gold deposits in Russia”. Pavel Skitovich also expressed his gratitude to all Olimpiada’s employees for the successful completion of Mill-3 construction.

The launch of the Mill-3 with a capacity of 5 million tonnes of ore per year will boost Olimpiada’s sulfide ore processing capacity to 8 million tonnes, WHERE as the total ore processing capacity of the mine will be brought to 9,5 million tonnes of ore per year. The new mill uses bio-oxidation technology which helps substantially increase gold recovery from sulfide ores. The technology was adjusted for the northern climate conditions by Polyus’ specialists and has been successfully applied at Olimpiada Mine since 2001.

Olimpiada deposit is one of the largest hard-rock gold deposits in Russia. The launch of the Mill-3 will help to maintain the stable production level at Olimpiada Mine and will substantially increase the mine life.