OREANDA-NEWS. JSC “Polymetal”, announced its production results for the quarter ended September 30, 2007.

According to the company news center's press release, the following data are highlighted:

• Compared with Q2 2007, gold production grew by 13%, from 58 Koz to 66 Koz, whereas silver production decreased by 5 %, from 4.4 Moz to 4.1 Moz.
• Based on these results and Q4 2007 production forecast, Polymetal narrows down its production guidelines for full year 2007 to 240-245 Koz of gold and 16-16.5 Moz of silver.
• All three Polymetal’s medium-term investment projects achieved crucial milestones en route to completion.
• Without taking into account possible acquisitions, Polymetal targets to produce 250-270 Koz of gold and 17-18 Moz of silver in the year 2008.

“We are very pleased with strong gold production and rapid progress on key development projects,” said Vitaly Nesis, CEO of Polymetal, commenting on the results. “Both our overall performance and approaching status of a hedge-free company provide a very bullish outlook for the coming years.”
 
In Q3 2007, underground development at Dukat accelerated in an effort to access higher grade ore in 2008. Capacity ramp up at the underground operations has helped to achieve record high ore production rates thanks to improved fleet availability. New SAG mill was erected and new tailings storage facility was commissioned in September 2007 as part of processing plant expansion. Nachalnoye-2 JORC-compliant reserve audit results are expected to come out in November 2007.

Although quarterly throughput at the Lunnoye processing plant decreased due to the scheduled re-lining of the SAG mill, the plant is still on track to deliver record processing volumes for the full year 2007. Increased silver and decreased gold head grades during Q3 2007 resulted from higher percentages of ore coming from Arylakh (Lunnoye satellite).

At Khakanja, pre-stripping activities on open pit 2 have been completed; first ore is expected to be mined by the end of Q4 2007. In Q3 2007, recoveries improved significantly due to continuous effort on plant automation and reagent optimization.

In Q3 2007, new compressor station and oxygen plant were commissioned at Voro, which resulted in substantial improvement in recoveries which should further strengthen in Q4 2007.
Record gold output was achieved at CIP plant mostly driven by tight grade control and selective stockpiling.
 
Public hearings for POX plant in Amursk held in September 2007 demonstrated strong support for the project in local communities.

During Q3 2007, 4,832 meters were drilled at Anfisa and Olga ore zones; 5 drill rigs are currently working on site. On the engineering side, flotation and preliminary POX testing continue to demonstrate viability of the selected flow sheet with high recoveries (85-90%) and low concentrate mass pulls (5-7%).