UPDATE2: Rostec, Polyus JV wins Sukhoi Log auction for 9.4 bln rbl

(Adds details in fourth paragraph)

MOSCOW, Jan 26 (PRIME) -- SL Zoloto, a joint venture of state industrial corporation Rostec and gold producer Polyus, has won an auction to develop the Sukhoi Log gold deposit in the Irkutsk Region having paid 9.4 billion rubles, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergei Donskoi told reporters Thursday.

“SL Zoloto has become a winner of the auction for the largest gold deposit Sukhoi Log. As a result of the auction, the federal budget will receive 9.406 billion rubles,” he said.

Polyus holds 51% in SL Zoloto and Rotec has the remaining 49%.

Polyus said it plans to buy out 23.9% in SL Zoloto from Rostec for around U.S. $141 million.

Zoloto Bodaibo also bid for the Sukhoi Log development. The starting price at the auction stood at 8.5 billion rubles.

The development of the Sukhoi Log deposit will require around 90–100 billion rubles of capital expenditures, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said. Gold production on the area can amount to 80–90 tonnes of gold and 20–25 tonnes of silver annually, the ministry said.

The inferred resources of Sukhoi Log under B, C1 and C2 categories amount to 1,953 tonnes of gold and 1,541 tonnes of silver, and off-balance gold resources stand at 799 tonnes.

(59.1489 rubles – U.S. $1)

End