Moscow, August 10, 2020, RosGeo and Polymetal established a joint venture for geological exploration of Novopetrovskaya area located in the south of the Republic of Bashkortostan in the purposes of prospecting the copper-zinc-pyrite mineralization.
“Establishment of a joint venture with Polymetal is the first transaction within the framework of our long-term strategy aimed at establishing the partnerships with the mining companies in the field of geological exploration, - said Sergey Gorkov, Director General - Chairman of the Board of RosGeo. - I am confident that the combination of the competencies of our companies will put on the state balance new significant reserves of mineral resources, and in the future allow to effectively involve these resources in the country economy within the framework of commercial operation."
“We continue to pursue the strategy of geological exploration through development of joint ventures with competent companies. RosGeo is a recognized leader in the area of geological exploration in Russia, and the earlier experience of the company in Novopetrovskaya area just confirmed its great potential. Our partnership will strengthen the presence of Polymetal in the promising Ural region", - said Vitaly Nesis, CEO of the Group.
Polymetal acquired a 75 percent stake in a subsidiary of RosGeo, which owns the license for Novopetrovskaya area, for 490 million rubles, in addition, Polymetal received a 7-year call option to buy the remaining 25% of the shares in the joint venture after the entry of the stocks into the books of the State Commission on Mineral Reserves (GKZ).
Polymetal will provide the equity loans to fund the geological exploration activities to the extent necessary for the assessment of the stocks by GKZ. The assessment of the mineral resources in line with JORC Code is scheduled to be completed in 2023.
Rosgeo carried out the exploration campaign at Novopetrovskaya in 2015-2017 on the area of 28 km2, which identified significant copper, zinc as well as gold and silver potential resources of industrial production scale.
