Russia's Polyus pours first gold from Sukhoi Log ore

MOSCOW. Sept 25 (Interfax) - Polyus has produced its first gold from ore mined at the giant Sukhoi log deposit in Russia's Irkutsk region.

The miner told Interfax that it obtained the gold at its nearby Verninskaya recovery plant.

"The first gold from ore from Sukhoi Log, one of the world's biggest gold fields, is a milestone for Polyus. We carried out extensive preparations last year to create the necessary infrastructure to develop the field and booked another 3.5 million ounces of reserves thanks to follow-up exploration," company chief Alexei Vostokov said. "But most of the construction is yet to come. Our priority both at the planning and infrastructure stage is still to implement energy efficient technologies and comply with stringent environmental standards, including where renewable energy is concerned," he said.

Polyus started testing Sukhoi Log ores at the Verninskaya plant in the second half of this year. It is building infrastructure at Sukhoi Log itself and aims to start building a recovery plant there in 2025. The project is now at the re-engineering stage; the company plans to give updates in Q4 2024.

Polyus is Russia's biggest gold miner. It develops hard rock and alluvial gold deposits in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk and Magadan Regions and Yakutia.