Name: Svetloye mine.

Location: Svetloye is located in the Okhotsk district of the Khabarovsk Krai, in the far east of Russia.

Mine Owner/s: Polymetal International.

Brief Description: Svetloye is a heap-leach operation, with a mine life to 2022. Further potential extensions exist as a result of successful nearby exploration.

Three ore zones – Emmy, Elena and Tamara – are proposed to be mined at Svetloye.

Brief History: The Svetloye deposit was discovered in 1973. Significant exploration was undertaken from 2003 to 2005, with 38 trenches excavated and 28 diamond drillholes drilled. From 2006 to 2009 a further 62 trenches were excavated and 273 diamond drillholes drilled.

Polymetal acquired the Svetloye exploration and mining licence in December 2010 for $9.25-million. In 2013 Polymetal drilled 17 diamond drillholes.

The construction at Svetloye was completed nine months ahead of the original schedule. The leaching process started on August 15, 2016, and the first 10 000 oz of gold were produced at the Merrill Crowe circuit on August 29, 2016.

Primary Metals/Minerals: Gold.

Secondary Metals/Minerals: None stated.

Geology/Mineralisation: Gold mineralisation at Svetloye comprises vuggy silica (secondary quartzite), associated with a high-sulphidation epithermal system. Gold mineralisation is mostly very fine grained and disseminated. Gold-bearing silicification occurs as flat lenses or pods, which outcrop at the surface and have true widths of between 20 m and 120 m. Higher-grade zones are adjacent to breccias. The oxidation zone develops to a depth of 150 m.

Reserves: Total proved and probable reserves as at January 1, 2020, were estimated at 5.61-million tonnes grading 2.7 g/t gold.

Resources: Total measured and indicated resources as at January 1, 2020, were estimated 5.19-million tonnes grading 3.1 g/t gold equivalent.

Mining Method: Openpit.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The mine includes a 1.3-million-tonne-a-year heap leaching circuit.

A solar power plant, with a capacity of 1 MW, supplies Svetloye’s main production site, and a wind turbine supplies 100 kW at the seaport of Unchi – the local supply hub for Svetloye.

Prospects: The results of in-fill drilling at Levoberezhny, a satellite property that is expected to extend the life-of-mine at Svetloye, have confirmed the continuity of mineralisation and the viability of using heap-leaching to recover gold.

Contact Details:
Polymetal International
Tel +7 812 334 3666
Website https://www.polymetalinternational.com