Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk’s large investment in its pressure oxidation (POX) process over the past decade is starting to bear fruit, nonexecutive chairperson Roderic Lyne said on Tuesday.
The POX Hub, at the site of its first mine Pokrovskiy, allows Petropavlovsk to process not only its own 9.6-million tonnes of refractory ore resources, but also third-party refractory resources. The POX Hub is able to process up to 500 000 t/y of refractory concentrate and poured its first gold in December 2018.
“The smooth ramp up of the POX Hub has been an outstanding success,” said Lyne, noting that the hub is one of only two in Russia equipped to process the country’s abundant refractory ore.
The POX Hub accounted for 27% of the total gold produced in the first half of 2019. CEO Pavel Maslovskiy said that the commissioning of the POX plant had enabled Petropavlovsk to unlock the potential of the refractory ore reserves at the Malomir mine, which had led to the near-doubling of gold production from a year ago.
Gold sales increased by 12% to 225 100 oz, which includes 61 300 oz from the processing of refractory gold concentrate at the POX Hub. Malomir’s sales increased to 93 100 oz in the six months, from 46 800 oz in the first half of 2018.
The miner reported group revenue of $305-million ounces in the half-year, owing to the higher volumes of gold sold. Profit of $14-million compared with a loss of $4-million a year earlier.
“These are fine results for the half-year,” said Lyne.
Petropavlovsk expects to meet its full-year target of 450 000 oz to 500 000 oz at a total cash cost of $750/oz to $850/oz.