Russia’s largest gold producer, Polyus, on Wednesday announced that it would exercise its right to accelerate the buyout of RT Business Development’s participation interest in SL Gold – the holder of the Sukhoi Log deposit and licence.
The company would consolidate its participation interest from 78% to 100% for a total consideration of $128.2-million, the London-listed producer said.
Sukhoi Log, in the Irkutsk region of eastern Siberia, is one of the largest untapped gold deposits in the world. Polyus previously said that a mine at Sukhoi Log would cost between $2-billion and $2.5-billion.
The Russian State Commission on Mineral Reserves has estimated Sukhoi Log’s gold reserves at 930.3-million tonnes of ore, grading 2.1 g/t of gold for 62.8-million troy ounces of contained gold.