News
UGC announces operating results for the first quarter of 2020
Q1 2020 highlights:
- Overall gold production grew by 2% YoY to 104 thousand oz.
- Ore mined amounted to 3,759 thousand tonnes, a 6% increase YoY.
- Ore processed reached 4,759 thousand tonnes, a 22% growth YoY.
- Estimated gold sales revenue reached USD 168 mln, 24% higher compared to 1Q2019 results considering the estimated weighted average gold price of USD 1,614 per ounce.
“It was not an easy beginning of the year for all of us. We started the first quarter in one socio-economic environment, and we finished it in completely different conditions. A rapid shift in working conditions made us face new challenges, many of which were hardly imaginable not so long ago,” said Konstantin Strukov the President of UGC. “Today, the health of employees and their families, as well as smooth operations of our facilities is a key priority for us. We have taken all necessary measures to comply with the strictest sanitary and epidemiological requirements and to create a safe working environment. At the same time, despite the increased external pressure, our personnel showed excellent results. We continue to successfully follow our production plans and to execute the company’s investment programme aimed at the future development of all UGC enterprises. I would like to stress that we have set more ambitious goals for ourselves, but the global economic slowdown and the coronavirus pandemic made adjustments,” he added.
UGC continues the execution of its investment policy
- In February 2020, UGC announced the completion of the acquisition of a 28.34% stake in Petropavlovsk PLC, one of the largest gold mining companies in Russia.
- In March 2020, the Board of Directors of UGC approved the construction of a new mining and processing plant at South Kurasan and West Kurasan deposits. This project is a part of our development strategy with USD 250 mln of planned investments. As soon as the facility will reach its full capacity of processing 4 mln tonnes of ore per annum, it will be annually producing 3.5-4 tonnes of gold. The end of construction and commissioning of the new processing plant is scheduled for January 1, 2022. It will allow the company to create 1,200 more jobs in 2020-2024.
- UGC continues to consistently execute its environmental policy aimed at reducing the environmental impact and using the best available technologies at all stages of production, from exploration to refining. In 1Q2020, the company allocated more than RUB 200 mln for these purposes. A special attention is paid to reducing the industrial environmental impact from waste storage facilities and airborne emissions. Due to the consistent and continuous work in this area, up to 70% of waste is reused, while 91.4% of suspended substances from stationary sources of emissions are captured by dust and gas filtering equipment.
About the Company
UGC is one of the largest Russian vertically integrated gold mining companies. The Group’s deposits and gold mining assets are located in Chelyabinsk and Krasnoyarsk regions, the Republic of Khakassia, includes the Schelkovo Factory of Scrap Precious Metals in the Moscow Region as well as other assets.