OREANDA-NEWS. Severstal’s mining division, Severstal Resurs, has acquired two gold-mining enterprises: OOO Neryungri Metallic that mines gold from the Tabornoye deposit in the Sakha-Yakutiya Republic, and ZAO Rudnik Aprelkovo which mines from the Pogromnoye gold deposit in the Chitinskaya oblast, the press service of the company reported.

Severstal Resurs acquired both businesses through Severstal’s subsidiary Bluecone Ltd, in a cash deal for an undisclosed sum. Both mines were originally managed by the Arlan investment company. “Both the Tabornoye and Pogromnoye deposits are very attractive assets with significant development potential. We see these deals as an important next step in the formation of Severstal Resurs` gold-mining division. The deals also advance our strategy of developing Severstal`s mining business,” said Roman Deniskin, CEO of Severstal Resurs.

Tabornoye is located in the southern part of Yakutiya, 100 km away from Baikal-Amur railway. Pogromnoye is in the Chitinskaya oblast, 300 km east of Chita city. Both deposits are operated as open-pit mines with gold extracted utilizing heap leaching technology. Gold production at Tabornoye and Pogromnoye for 2007 is estimated to be 2,7 tons (or 87 thousand ounces). Tabornoye has a reserve balance of C1+C2 gold amounting to 15 tons, while P1+P2 gold exceeds 70 tons. The Pogromnoye gold deposit’s reserves are estimated to be 25 tons of C1+C2.

In September 2007, OOO Severnaya Zolotorudnaya Kompaniya (Northern Gold Mining company), a company controlled by Severstal Resurs, secured the geological exploration and gold extraction rights for the Uryahskoye ore field (100 tons of P2+P3 gold) in the Irkutskaya oblast, and the Sagan-Golsky gold field in Buryatiya Republic (60 tons of P1+P2 gold).

Severstal Resurs manages all of Severstal's mining operations. The division consists of four high-quality mining complexes in northwest Russia and in Western Siberia producing iron ore and coking coal. It is the second largest producer of pellets and coking coal in Russia.

In 2006, Severstal's Mining division produced 5.4 million tons of coal concentrate, 2.2 million tons of coking coal, 2.1 million tons of steam coal, 9.5 million tons of iron ore pellets and 4.5 million tons of iron ore concentrate. The reserves and resources of the company were estimated by IMC Limited to be 1.8 billion tonnes of iron ore as of January 1, 2006 and 0.7 billion tonnes of coal as of April 1, 2006.