For immediate release
PJSC Polyus
PJSC Polyus (“Polyus” or the “Company”), the largest gold producer in Russia, today releases its operating results for 2Q 2016 and 1H 2016.
2Q and 1H 2016 Highlights
- Total gold production in 2Q 2016 amounted to 455 koz, up 6% y-o-y due to increased output at Olimpiada, Blagodatnoye and Verninskoye, and up 18% q-o-q as a result of the start of the Alluvial washing season and improvements at Olimpiada and Kuranakh
- Total gold output in 1H 2016 reached 839 koz, up 7% y-o-y
- On 23 May a pit wall failure occurred at the Company’s Vostochny mine of Olimpiada, which resulted in a
9-day suspension of mining works at the pit. No injuries to personnel or damage to mining equipment was reported. The suspension of mining works at Olimpiada enabled its mining fleet to be used at Blagodatnoye to accelerate stripping works. Despite the accident at the mine, treatment volumes at Olimpiada were increased due to availability of previously stockpiled ore, which led to a quarterly increase in gold output - Quarterly gold sales are estimated at $564 million with the average selling price
- (incl. the impact from the Strategic Price Protection Programme) of $1,292/oz, 3% above the spot LBMA price
- The positive effect from the SPPP in 2Q is estimated at $15 million
- Estimated net debt position of $3,469 million as at 30 June 2016, down 1% q-o-q
Pavel Grachev, Chief Executive Officer of PJSC Polyus, commented:
“In 2Q our continued focus on execution allowed us to deliver another set of solid operational results, despite the accident at Olimpiada in May.
Management and the personnel reacted swiftly and efficiently to the pit wall failure accident at the Vostochny pit. I am proud of the way the team managed to cope with the incident and resume mining operations safely and promptly. As a result, production at Olimpiada actually increased in 2Q. Our other mines continued to demonstrate strong performance as well.
As a gold player we benefited from the strong gold price performance which increased 6% q-o-q in 2Q to $1,260/oz. But even in these conditions our Strategic Price Protection Programme continues to bear fruit, adding $15 million to the top line in this quarter”.
Conference call information
Polyus will host an analyst and media conference call on 25th July 2016 at 2 pm London time (4 pm Moscow time) to present and discuss the 2Q and 1H 2016 operating results.
Conference call details will be provided in a separate announcement.
Enquiries:
Investor contact
Victor Drozdov, Director Investor Relations
+7 495 641 33 77 ir@polyus.com
Media contact
Artem Gorbachev, Press Secretary
+7 495 641 33 77 gorbachevav@polyus.com
Forward looking statements
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 Company assumes no obligation in respect of, and does not intend to update, these forward-looking statements, except as required pursuant to applicable law.