S&P's places Polyus ratings on CreditWatch positive

9th June 2017 By: Megan van Wyngaardt - Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Ratings agency S&P Global Ratings Services has placed its 'BB-' issuer credit ratings on Russian gold miner PJSC Polyus and its controlling shareholder, Polyus Gold, on CreditWatch with positive implications.

S&P’s highlighted the company’s strong profitability, positive free operating cash flow generation, falling leverage and the expectation that Polyus will report supportive operating and financial results for this year and beyond.

Polyus’s solid market position internationally, long reserve life and low production costs supported the ratings decision, S&P’s said.

It also stated that Polyus’s continuous record of low cash operating costs ensured “the company will remain at the bottom of the global gold miners' cost curve.”

Polyus operates a portfolio of gold mines in Russia, including the 29.1-million-ounce Olympia mine, in Eastern Siberia.