Russia-focused miner Polymetal said on Wednesday that the POX-2 project at the Amursk hub would be completed later than planned and that it had delayed all early-stage projects by one year.

The POX-2 project, which is designed for processing double-refractory ore and aimed at making it possible to process 100% of the company’s refractory ore in-house, would experience a schedule slippage of three to six months. This is mainly owing to logistical challenges.

Early-stage projects, including Veduga, Mayskoye and backfill Maminskoye, would be delayed by one year, while the Pacific-POX project had been suspended indefinitely, Polymetal said, adding that studies were under way to potentially resite the Pacific-POX facility in Kazakhstan.

Projects in advanced stages of development, or nearing completion, including Kutyn Urals flotation and Prognoz, would continue and would be commissioned on schedule.

This comes as Polymetal had to review its nonsustaining development project schedules and budgets, against the backdrop of sanctions, including those self-imposed by commercial counterparties.

An updated capital expenditure and costs guidance would be provided in late April, the miner noted.

Meanwhile, Polymetal reported that its operations in Russia and Kazakhstan continued undisrupted and that its production guidance for 2022 of 1.7-million gold-equivalent ounces remained in place.

Sales of bullion and concentrate from Kazakhstan continued as usual and sales from Russia to East Asia and Kazakhstan also continued. Shipments, however, have been temporarily impacted by the change in freight and logistics service providers, which would result in higher costs.

The company noted that sales of gold bullion in Russia had been restored to new counterparties on terms consistent with those received earlier.

Polymetal further stated that it continued to evaluate the stability, liquidity and solvency of the business, including its dividend recommendation, in light of “significant funding and regulatory uncertainty”.

The board was also monitoring the MOEX trade re-opening and the developments related to National Settlement Depositary - Euroclear operation, which were critical to delivering dividends to Polymetal shareholders trading through MOEX. “The ability to distribute dividends to all shareholders in an equitable way will be one of the factors in finalising the dividend decision,” the firm said.

On Tuesday, Polymetal reported that it was considering demerging its Kazakhstan business to increase value for its shareholders.