Russia’s Polymetal to buy Kazakhstan’s Komerovskoye gold field

MOSCOW, Apr 4 (PRIME) -- Russian precious metals producer Polymetal International has signed a deal to buy gold producer Orion Minerals, which owns a license for the Komarovskoye gold field in Kazakhstan, from Kazakh company Kazzinc, a unit of Swiss-based trader and miner Glencore, for U.S. $100 million and $80 million royalty, Polymetal said in a statement Monday.

The Komarovskoye field’s reserves amount to about 43.5 tonnes of gold. The deal is to be closed in 2016 after approvals of corresponding authorities. After the purchase, Polymetal’s net debt/EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) ratio will not change significantly from 1.97x as of December 31, 2015, Polymetal said.

The deferred gratification will be paid to Kazzinc quarterly if the gold price exceeds $1,250 per ounce until the combined payment equals $80 million, the company said.

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