OREANDA-NEWS. On March 25, 2009 JSC "Polymetal" (LSE, MICEX, RTS: PMTL) ("Polymetal" or the "Company") announced the first resource estimate for Perevalnoye deposit reported in accordance with the terms and definitions given in "The 2004 Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the "JORC Code") as published by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee ("JORC"), reported the press-centre of Polymetal.

The Mineral Resource statements for the property have been prepared by the Company and audited by SRK Consulting (UK) Limited ("SRK").

Perevalnoye is located in the Magadan region in the Far East of Russia approximately 13 kilometers north-east from Dukat mine. Dukat processing plant is located in 35 kilometers from the deposit and can be accessed by all-year unpaved road.

Perevalnoye is part of the Dukat Flanks area licensed in 2006. The deposit is represented by three silver polymetallic ore bodies first discovered in 1983-1985. In 2007-2008 Polymetal competed 29 thousand meters of diamond core drilling which resulted in the following Mineral Resource estimate, audited by SRK:

Mineral Resources are quoted at an appropriate in-situ economic cut-off grades which satisfy the requirement of 'potentially economically mineable' for underground mining methods. Furthermore, the commodity prices incorporated into the cut-off grade calculations are US13/oz for silver, USc220/lb for copper, USc70/lb for lead and USc90/lb for zinc. These commodity prices are based on a 30% premium to the long term price as reflected by the consensus market forecast derived from the median of analyst's long term price forecasts published during Q1 2009.

The in-situ cut off grades for reporting of the Mineral Resources are 269.2g/t Ag Equivalent for underground Mineral Resources. The silver equivalent factor for copper is 75.6190, for lead is 36.2431 and for zinc is 24.0906.

The Perevalnoye deposit is associated with a structural trap formed within a fault structure at an average depth of 150m to 200m and an average width of 12m. Silver mineralization is associated with the main fault structure and to a lesser extent in hanging wall features. The structural feature has been traced for some 5km and has been the focus of airborne geophysics during late 2008. A number of potential features have been identified within the property for follow-up drilling with the aim of finding ore bodies of similar dimension and grades. A total of 3,000 meters of diamond drilling has been planned for 2009 to test these features.

The next developmental stage necessitates the completion of a TEO Konditsyi (Russian Statutory Feasibility Study) planned for completion in Q4 2009. The scope of the Study assumes the development of 100-150ktpa underground mining operation with ore trucked to and processed at the Dukat processing facilities. The current project assumes production of silver-base metals concentrates. Statutory reserve confirmation in the State Reserve Commission ("GKZ") and completion of design documentation is planned for Q1 2010.

"We are confident that the initial resource estimate for Perevalnoye is only the beginning of the story for the highly prospective ore-bearing structure. Only 800m of the overall 5km strike length has been tested and the upside potential remains significant," said Vitaly Nesis, CEO of Polymetal.