Structures close to the PIK developer are planning to acquire the Uryumkan gold mining company, amid the continued rise in metal prices. The most interesting asset of the company is the Darasunskoye field, the development of which began even before the revolution. According to experts, significant reserves and proximity to the Trans-Siberian Railway can make the field attractive. But in recent years, it has passed from hand to hand, including because the owners "could not cope with crime." There are also technical difficulties.
A structure close to the owner of the PIK development company, Sergey Gordeev, intends to acquire the Uryumkan gold mining company, Kommersant sources in the industry say. The official application has been submitted by the Vostok Gold company registered in Chita. According to Kartoteke, 99.9% of it belongs to the Cypriot offshore, 0.1% - comes from Rosbuilding and the developer of PIK, the founder of Ecopolis Corporation Vladislav Sviblov. Now Uryumkan belongs to Rinchima Garmaeva and Timur Berbidaev. They became co-founders after the death of the founder of the company Sergey Berbidaev in a plane crash.
Officially, PIK and Uryumkane do not comment on the deal. Sources of Kommersant in the industry believe that its amount is small. Vladislav Sviblov has been increasing his presence in the mining and metallurgical industry in recent years: in October 2019, he became a major minority shareholder of Petropavlovsk, having bought a 4.6% stake (market value - $ 19 million). He also invests in a project to develop the Ozerny zinc deposit in Buryatia with reserves of 157 million tons of polymetallic ores.
Uryumkan includes several ore and placer gold mining companies. According to the company, revenue from mining at 13 alluvial gold deposits amounted to 3 billion rubles in 2016-2017. and 2 billion rubles. accordingly, production in 2017 is 1.1 tons of gold.
The most interesting asset of Uryumkan is the Darasunsky mine opened in 1883, and production began in 1911. In the modern period, the mine belonged to Highland Gold Evgeny Shvidler and Roman Abramovich, but in 2007 after the death of 25 miners in the fire, Yuzhuralzolot Konstantin Strukov was sold for $ 25 million. The Urals company disposed of the asset in 2017 for $ 1 million, Forbes wrote with reference on Konstantin Strukov himself. According to him, the main reason for the sale was illegal production: "We could not cope with crime."
The price of gold in recent months is growing, reaching $ 1750-1770 per ounce. A number of large investment houses forecast gold prices to rise to $ 2,000–3,000 per ounce over the horizon of 12–18 months, says Boris Krasnozhenov, head of analytical research at Alfa Bank. “According to media reports, Uryumkan has faced financial problems in recent years. The company is also engaged in the construction and production of building materials. Perhaps the PIK group structures were able to purchase a gold mining asset at an attractive price and found some synergies with other Uryumkan businesses, ”the analyst said. The construction area of the company is represented by the Nikolaev quarry, where crushed stone is mined.
According to Sergei Kashuba, head of the Union of Russian Gold Producers, the balance reserves of the Darasunsky mine of 63 tons make the deposit still quite large in reserves and transfer it to the category of strategic ones. “The advantages of the deposit include a rather high gold content in residual reserves - 14 grams per ton, as well as proximity to the Trans-Siberian Railway. However, the deposit is difficult from a mining and technical point of view, and the presence of harmful arsenic impurities in the ore will certainly complicate the process of recovering marketable gold, ”he notes. In addition, adds Sergey Kashuba, in Russia there are few projects with underground gold mining, which raises the question of attracting qualified personnel.