Polymetal buys 80% stake in Saum deposit

Polymetal International has acquired an 80% stake in Saum Mining, which is a licence holder for the Saum polymetallic deposit in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region in the Ural mountains.

The company has issued 1.12m new shares, or around 0.26% of its total increased share capital in connection with the acquisition of the stake from an unconnected Russian seller. The total transaction value is around $10.7m.

Polymetal said it was planning to prepare an ore reserves estimate in the fourth quarter of next year, with further drilling set for 2017 and 2018.

Group chief executive Vitaly Nesis said: “Saum furthers our strategy of accumulating resources for the potential upgrade of the Voro plant with a flotation circuit. High grade, shallow depth, and good infrastructure will enable capital-light and low-cost production from the deposit in the medium-term.”

At 1545 GMT, the shares were down 2.3% to 729p.