PLZL.L Regulatory News (PLZL)

21 Feb 2008 16:41

OJSC Polyus Gold21 February 2008 For immediate release Moscow, February 21, 2008 Polyus Gold Board approves project to upgrade Kuranakh Mine in Yakutia. OJSC Polyus Gold (RTS, MICEX and LSE - PLZL), Russia's leading gold producer,today announced that its Board of Directors on a meeting held today approved theKuranakh Mine upgrading project. The upgrade will result in increasing theplant's capacity to 4.5 million tonnes of ore per year. The Kuranakh group of deposits is located in Aldan region of the Sakha Republic(Yakutia). OJSC Aldanzoloto GRK, a wholly owned subsidiary of OJSC Polyus Gold,is a licence holder for 11 deposits of Kuranakh ore field. The plant at Kuranakh mine, constructed in 1965, currently processes 3.6 milliontonnes of ore. The upgrading programme will increase the plant's capacity to 4.5million tonnes of ore per annum. The modernization programme will start in Q1 of2008 and will be completed in Q4 this year. The total cost of the project is715.2 million rubles ($28.6 million) (not including VAT). General Director of Polyus Gold Evqueni Ivanov said that the plant upgradeprogramme at Kuranakh mine is stipulated in the company's Strategy till 2015.Expanding and upgrading production facilities of Kuranakh mine is another stepin the development of Polyus operations in Yakutia, - Mr. Ivanov said. He alsoadded that since OJSC Aldanzoloto GRK was acquired in September 2005, PolyusGold has invested into the mine's production facilities development 868 millionrubles ($35 million) in total. During that period the gold production at themine was increased from 4.1 tonnes (132 k oz) in 2005 to 4.4 tonnes (141 k oz)in 2007. The plan for the coming two years is to increase the metal productionat Kuranakh mine to 4.7 tonnes (151 k oz) in 2008 and to 5.2 tonnes (167 k oz)in 2009. Polyus Gold is the largest gold producer in Russia. Headquartered in Moscow,Polyus Gold's operating mines and development/exploration projects are locatedin five major gold mining regions of Russia - Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Magadan,Amur regions and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The company produced 1.2 m ozof gold in 2007. For further information please contact For investors:Alexey V. Chernushkin, Director, CM and IREvguenia V.Buydina, IR manager+7(495) 641-3377+7(495) 785-4031ir@polyusgold.com For press: Victoria V. Vergelskaya, PR DirectorElena D. Evstigneeva, Media Relations+7 (495) 641-3365+7 (495) 544-5496pr@polyusgold.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange