OREANDA-NEWS. December 06, 2012. Polymetal International plc (LSE: POLY) (together with its subsidiaries – “Polymetal”, the “Company”, or the “Group”) is pleased to provide an update on Mineral Resources at Albazino, reported the press-centre of Polymetal.

Highlights
As of 1 August 2012, Mineral Resources at Albazino were estimated at 37 Mt with the average grade of 4.8 g/t of Au containing 5.7 Moz of Au (in accordance with JORC Code 2004). This estimate more than doubles the size of the asset’s Mineral Resource compared to the previous estimate (19 Mt at 4.5 g/t Au containing 2.8 Moz of Au as of 1 January 2012). The cost of discovery was approximately USD 12 dollars per ounce of resources.

The Mineral Resource estimate now includes five ore zones: Olga, Anfisa, Nadezhda, Ekaterina 1 and Ekaterina 2. Anfisa is currently subject to open pit mining. The development plan for other zones will be determined after the completion of the optimisation study, currently expected in Q2 2013.

Active exploration at Albazino is ongoing with further Mineral Resource potential identified, most importantly along strike at Ekaterina 2 and at the new Tatyana zone. In-fill underground drilling in 1H 2013 is expected to lead to a substantial upgrade of inferred resources and allow meaningful resource-to-reserve conversion.

“Once again, exploration results at Albazino highlight the tremendous potential of this asset and pave the way for the expansion decision to be taken in the second half of 2013,” said Vitaly Nesis, CEO of Polymetal. “Albazino is an excellent example of Polymetal’s ability to create value by discovering high-grade ounces close to existing processing facilities”.