Alrosa may develop gold mining in Chukotka jointly with Rosatom Nedra - CEO

MOSCOW. April 17 (Interfax) - Alrosa may jointly develop gold deposits in Chukotka with Rosatom Nedra (the mining division of Rosatom, formerly Atomredmetzoloto, ARMZ), company CEO Pavel Marinychev said at the Khozaktiv-2025 corporate forum on Thursday.

"We are considering developing gold projects in Chukotka together with ARMZ," he said.

As part of last year's adopted diversification strategy, Alrosa continues gold exploration in Yakutia and plans to discover deposits there. This year, subsidiary Almazy Anabara, previously engaged only in by-product mining, will for the first time produce gold as a primary product at one of its deposits.

The main gold asset in Alrosa's portfolio is the Degdekan deposit in the Magadan region, acquired last year from Polyus . It could yield between 3.5 and 5 tonnes annually, Marinychev said.

However, Alrosa is not switching to gold, he said.

"Alrosa was, is and will remain a diamond company. This is our core product for many years to come. Moreover, we are working to extend our planning horizons in diamonds. This is precisely why we're developing exploration, seeking new technologies to process not only rich deposits but also low-grade ones. We operate in our communities where our work significantly impacts quality of life," he said.

Gold diversification makes sense not only for mitigating regular diamond industry crises, but also from a market perspective too, as "there's an inverse correlation: when gold rises, diamonds fall, and vice versa," he said.

Rosatom Nedra's primary gold asset in Chukotka is the Sovinoye deposit with proven reserves of 86 tonnes of gold and 29 tonnes of silver. The company previously announced planned production of 3 tonnes of gold annually there. Rosatom Nedra is also exploring the Dor and Ryveyem ore fields, with combined resource potential estimated at nearly 90 tonnes of gold.