OREANDA-NEWS. March 21, 2014. Polymetal International plc (LSE, MOEX: POLY, ADR: AUCOY) (together with its subsidiaries – “Polymetal”, the “Company”, or the “Group”) is pleased to provide an Exploration update for the year ended 31 December 2013 and an update of its Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources as at 1 January 2014 in accordance with the JORC Code (2012).

HIGHLIGHTS
In 2013 Polymetal’s Ore Reserves decreased by 12% to 13.3 Moz of gold equivalent (“GE”), while Mineral Resources (additional to Ore Reserves) declined by 11%. The declines were driven mostly by more stringent economic evaluation with the same prices of \\$1300/oz gold and \\$22.5/oz silver used to estimate both Reserves and Resources;

The key material additions to Ore Reserves were due to resource-to-reserve conversion at Oroch (241 Koz GE) and acquisition of Maminskoye (913 Koz GE). Decreases in Ore Reserves, in addition to regular depletion (1,517 Koz GE), were mostly due to changes in mine plans driven by geotechnical and economic factors (where required additional capital expenditures are not generating above-hurdle rates of return):

Re-optimization of open pits at Birkachan, Sopka and Dalnee;

Exclusion of remote ore zones and ore bodies requiring significant additional investment in access at Dukat;

Indefinite postponement of underground mining at Khakanja;

Mineral Resources decreased mostly as a function of lower gold price used in estimates (USD 1300/oz vs. USD 1500/oz in 2012);

Average Ore Reserve grade remains high at 3.7 g/t GE, a decline of 7% compared with 2012, while average Mineral Resource grade increased by 14% to 3.7 g/t as a result of lower-quality Mineral Resources being excluded from the estimate;

Gold equivalent data in this report is based on price assumptions used as well as on recoveries for different commodities (refer to Appendix). The average gold/silver conversion ratio is 59.6;

Polymetal continued to invest in exploration in 2013 with total meters drilled increasing 72% year-on-year to 194.9 km. Total dollar expenditure on exploration declined mostly due to the decrease in the unit costs of drilling and a reduction in early-stage activities such as trenching;

Material additions to Ore Reserves during 2014 are expected at Svetloye (Q2), Albazino (Q4), and Kutyn (Q4), with further likely additions at near-mine properties at Omolon and Voro.

“Polymetal remains committed to the strategic goal of maintaining and expanding high-quality Ore Reserves at our assets”, said Vitaly Nesis, CEO of Polymetal, commenting on the results. “Reductions in Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources in 2013 are expected to be significantly reversed in 2014 as we step up our exploration efforts and complete feasibility studies on several projects.”