Gold for the stubborn
Sergey Yanchukov told NG about the prospects for Russian gold mining 
Sergey Yanchukov is sure cost trend gold will be strengthened in the new year.
Photo by the press service of the Mangazeya company
Since ancient times, the main precious metal in the world has been gold, which has become a convenient equivalent to the value of other goods, a reliable means of storing savings and a tool for investment. It is considered to be the best protection against inflation. Currently, the price of gold on the world market is $ 1,560.45 per ounce, although only two years ago its average price was $ 1,268 and experts forecast a slight increase in 2019 to $ 1,292 per ounce. Russia ranks first in the world in gold reserves, but in terms of its production - only third. The production of this noble metal in our country has changed over the past several decades. First of all, this is due to the depletion of alluvial sources, which were historically processed in the first place and did not require large financial investments. But thanks to the advent of new technologies, gold mining companies are able to profitably obtain precious metal from indigenous deposits. About the present and future of the Russian gold mining industry and the investment attractiveness of the industry - in the material of the "Independent newspaper"
New profitability
The bulk of the precious metal mined in Russia is currently being extracted from ore from primary deposits. In addition, for Russia, unlike other countries, alluvial gold is important - gold-bearing crushed rocks along the banks of rivers and streams. A feature of such deposits is the presence of a native noble metal. Our country has been consistently holding the first place in the world in the mining of placer gold for many years. But, according to industry experts, the era of alluvial deposits in Russia is drawing to a close, but there is no large reserve for ore deposits. Discoveries of new large deposits do not occur, and the depletion of old forces gold miners to use more modern tools and technologies. Already, investors are investing in mines that were previously considered unprofitable. Today, they even process past wastes with a gold content of less than a gram per ton of rock, although until recently deposits where the precious metal content in the rock was two to five grams per ton were considered to be profitable for development.
Of course, with the modern technological approach, new discoveries happen, such as the Kochkovskoye field in the Trans-Baikal Territory, which was explored and put into production from scratch, and the prospect of the mine was determined only after exploration. Sergey Yanchukov, founder and owner of the Mangazeya Mining company, the gold mining division of GK Mangazeya, the developer of the Kochkovsky deposit, believes that “now it is very rare, because in most cases deposits are discovered that were discovered in the USSR. This problem did not arise by itself, at the moment it is difficult to find specialists in geological exploration, although the geologist is a very promising and ideologically correct profession. ”
According to Sergey Yanchukov, for Mangazeya, “a new challenge and a promising direction was the development of refractory ores, gold from which cannot be extracted by traditional methods.” It should be noted that such projects require large investments and complex technical support, and Russian companies specializing in refractory ores can be counted on the fingers. They were called “stubborn,” because to extract precious metal from them it is necessary to show remarkable persistence - in these ores most of it is hidden in other minerals. Managing Director of Mangazeya Zoloto Sergey Klimenko says that “refractory ores are a real puzzle, and we have come close to resolving it at the Kochkovsky deposit.”
Part of the Mangazeya’s gold assets is hard ore. According to Sergey Yanchukov, “for such complex work, close cooperation with specialists is necessary: competent scientific organizations conduct numerous technological studies of ores, on the basis of which the optimal extraction scheme is determined”. According to various estimates, up to 20-40% of gold reserves in Russia are refractory ores, so the introduction of such technologies is a strategic task for the entire domestic gold mining industry.
Investment attractiveness
If we rely on statistics from mid-2019, the cost of Russian gold mining companies, taking into account the volume of reserves of this precious metal in our country, is clearly underestimated. According to EY estimates, on average, global large companies are trading at the rate of $ 296 per ounce of inventory, and small ones - even $ 348 per ounce. In Russia, this ratio is $ 208 for large players and $ 174 for smaller players. At the same time, the costs of Russian manufacturers are significantly lower than those of their foreign colleagues. It is also worth noting that the cost of Russian gold is much lower than in Western companies. All this suggests that, under favorable market conditions, the investment attractiveness of domestic companies will increase.
Due to the changing conditions of gold mining, recently, Russian producers are actively increasing operational efficiency. According to the founder and owner of Mangazeya Mining, "now the company takes a modest position relative to the entire Russian market, so it is important to use the right technology." Sergey Yanchukov notes that “in order to get greater returns, the company uses the technologies of major global brands, and the process is built as efficiently as possible.” With this approach to the implementation of plans in the near future, Mangazeya Zoloto plans to invest more in exploration and new technologies. Already a company breaks records . According to financial reports, the revenue of Mangazeya Mining in 2019 increased by 112%. In the third quarter of 2019, the volume of gold produced by the company amounted to 500 kilograms, while for the same period in 2018 - 345.2 kilograms.
According to Sergey Yanchukov, “the financial statements only confirmed the steady growth of the enterprise, the company is not going to stop there, the plans are to explore new fields. The founder and owner of Mangazeya Mining is confident that “with the successful implementation of projects, the company will enter the TOP-15 of Russian gold miners in the coming years." Since the summer of last year, the price of the noble metal has steadily increased and reached the mark of $ 1,500 per ounce, the average annual figure is $ 1,350 per ounce. The market has not seen such prices for several years. Experts attribute the rise in gold prices to two factors. The first is associated with increasing volatility in world markets, triggered by tensions between the United States and China. The second is caused by a fall in interest rates in world central banks. Therefore, people just wanted to invest in the safe asset that they see in gold. In addition, a stable supply of precious metal is of interest to central banks and large investors. At the beginning of 2020, a global geopolitical event took place - a conflict between the United States and Iran, which, according to market experts, will affect the price of this noble metal.
Sergey Yanchukov notes that "the trend of rising gold prices will be strengthened in the new year, as political upheavals stimulate investing in traditionally protected assets." Already in early January, prices for it updated the historical maximum of 2013, reaching $ 1,588 an ounce. In general, market experts very positively assess the prospects for Russian gold mining, and the rise in the world price of precious metals against the backdrop of a "cheap" ruble already makes it attractive for investors and lenders.