Russia Petropavlovsk to launch gold concentrate autoclave in 2018

MOSCOW, Dec 6 (PRIME) -- U.K.-registered Petropavlovsk Plc, which operates in Russia, plans to launch a pressure oxidation autoclave in the Amur Region in 2018 to raise its production capacity to 480,000 tonnes of flotation gold-bearing concentrate per year in 2021, CEO Pavel Maslovsky said on Tuesday in a conference.

Investments in the project have already reached U.S. $197.4 million, and the company will need to invest $120–140 million more.

The autoclave will be launched in September–December 2018 with the initial production capacity of about 50,000 tonnes of concentrate. In 2019–2020, output will increase to 300,000 tonnes, and in 2021, it will reach full capacity, he said.

Petropavlovsk plans to transfer 150,000–170,000 tonnes of flotation concentrate from the Pioneer field and 300,000–330,000 tonnes from the Malomir filed to the autoclave, and the cost of processing will reach $71–73 per tonne. The project’s all-in sustaining cost of gold will stand at $850 per ounce, he said.

In future, Petropavlovsk may increase production capacity to 650,000 tonnes a year.

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