OREANDA-NEWS. August 1, 2007. A certificate establishing the fact of discovery in 2007 of the primary kimberlite deposit of Verkhne-Munskoye in the Olenyok Ulus (district) of the Repubublic of Sakha (Yakutia) has been issued to ALROSA by the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use under the RF Ministry of Natural Resources.

The deposit consists of three kimberlite pipes that are close to each other and located 130 km from the Udachny Mining Division of ALROSA.

The deposit is located in favourable geological environment.

The estimated mine life is 25 years, with the level of production at 1.2 – 2 million tons of ore per annum.

Now the explored reserves at Verkhne-Munskoye are estimated at approximately USD 3.5 billion. However there might be considerably larger reserves allowing for increased volumes of extraction after additional exploration of deeper horizons.

All works related to discovery of Verkhne-Munskoye have been financed by ALROSA’s own funds.

The certificate establishing the fact of discovery will allow ALROSA to receive the mining rights on a non-competitive basis. At present in compliance with the RF laws the licensing procedure has been initiated. The license will enable ALROSA to begin the commercial development of Verkhne-Munskoye.

In line with the Company’s long-term development strategy in 2007 ALROSA has considerably increased its exploration spending to a level exceeding maximum diamond mining industry expenditures during the Soviet era.

Also in order to step up prospecting efforts in the northern part of the Yakutian diamond province – in the Anabar, Olenyok, Bulun and Zhigansk districts – ALROSA is setting up its fourth exploration expedition that will be based in the town of Zhigansk. 
This issue was discussed by the ALROSA president Sergey Vybornov and the Sakha President Vyacheslav Shtyrov during their recent joint working tour of Yakutia.