Press Release
PJSC Polyus
PJSC Polyus (MOEX — PLZL) (“Polyus”, the “Company”), the largest gold producer in Russia, provides the following update on an accident which occurred at the Vostochny pit within the Olimpiada mine.
On 23 May, 2016, at 9:02 a.m. (local time), a landslide occurred at
As a result of the timely detection of the crack on the pit wall by the dispatcher, all traffic in the pit was stopped meaning that there were no injuries reported or damage to mining equipment. However, due to the significant amount of fallen rock on the mine road, access to 153 miners in the pit was blocked. Owing to the successful rescue operation which included an outsourced mine rescue crew and a paramilitary mine rescue squad, all the miners were evacuated by 3:20 p.m. (Moscow time).
The operations at the Vostochny pit have since been suspended and Polyus is currently examining the situation to assess the timeline to restore its operations and to identify the reasons that caused the accident.
All the gold processing plants at Polyus’ Krasnoyarsk business unit continue to operate as normal. The suspended ore deliveries from the Vostochny pit are offset by stockpiled ore that was accumulated earlier in order to ensure continuing operations at the processing plant amid ongoing large-scale stripping works. It is anticipated that this will help mitigate any potential adverse impact on the final operating numbers of Krasnoyarsk business unit.
Polyus
Polyus (www.polyusgold.com) is the largest gold producer in Russia and one of the top 10 gold miners globally by ounces produced. The Company also holds the fourth largest mineral resources base in the world.
Polyus group’s principal operations are located in Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk and Magadan regions and the Sakha Republic (Yakutia).
In 2015, the Company confirmed its status of one of the lowest-cost gold producers globally.
Enquiries:
Investor Contact
Sergey Krivokhizhin, Director Investor Relations
+7 (495) 641 33 77 ir@polyusgold.com
Media contact
Artem Gorbachev, Press Secretary
+7 (495) 641 33 77 gorbachevav@polyusgold.com
Forward looking statement
This announcement may contain “forward-looking statements” concerning Polyus and/or Polyus group. Generally, the words “will”, “may”, “should”, “could”, “would”, “can”, “continue”, “opportunity”, “believes”, “expects”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “estimates” or similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements relating to future capital expenditures and business and management strategies and the expansion and growth of Polyus’ and/or Polyus group’s operations. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond Polyus’ and/or Polyus group’s ability to control or estimate precisely and therefore undue reliance should not be placed on such statements which speak only as at the date of this announcement. Polyus and/or any Polyus group company assumes no obligation in respect of, and does not intend to update, these forward-looking statements, except as required pursuant to applicable law.