Polymetal commissions a second processing line at Amur

Polymetal has commissioned the second line of the Amur Hydrometallurgical Plant in Russia's Khabarovsk Territory. The company announced commercial operation on 10 April, marking the completion of a processing project that began in 2019.

Additional processing for complex feedstock

The line is intended to handle gold-bearing concentrates from double-refractory ores. Interfax reports that planned feedstock includes material from Nezhdaninskoye in Yakutia, Mayskoye in Chukotka and Veduga in Krasnoyarsk Territory. The project concerns processing capability at the plant, rather than the opening of those mines.

With the second line operating, the company expects total annual gold production at Amur to rise from 12–15 tonnes to 25–30 tonnes. The larger range is a forward-looking figure for the whole plant. It should not be added to the earlier range as though it described a separate quantity from the new line alone.

Construction and permanent employment

The company's announcement puts investment above 60 billion rubles and identifies preferential financing from VEB.RF. It also reports more than 600 new permanent jobs, bringing the plant's workforce to about 1,100.

The development corporation's account places the project within the Khabarovsk advanced development territory and its state-support framework. That is context for the investment; it does not turn the financing amount into an estimate of the plant's annual revenue or the value of its output.

Three figures with different meanings

• Investment describes resources committed to delivering the project.
• The workforce figure describes operating employment at the plant.
• The annual production range describes anticipated gold output after expansion.

Keeping these categories separate is necessary to read the launch announcement accurately. Construction activity, permanent staffing and a future annual production rate refer to different periods and functions. None is a substitute for a subsequent operating report showing actual output over a complete year.

The immediate milestone is the entry of the second line into commercial operation. The announced increase in annual production remains the company's expectation, to be assessed against later operating results.

Sources: Interfax; АО Полиметалл; Корпорация развития Дальнего Востока и Арктики.