Highland Gold Set to Increase Resource in Flagship Mine

PUBLISHED: 29 Nov 2012 @ 12:49 | Comments (15) | More info about Kenneth G. Mondero

Russian gold producer, Highland Gold Mining Limited (LSE:HGM) has more than enough resources to last for several more years and extend the operations of its flagship mine in the far east region of the Russian Federation.

That would seem to be the likely conclusion following the end of the two-year drilling exploration programme around the Mnogovershinnoye (MNV) mine located in Russia’s Khabarovsk region, resulting in a potential increase in indicated and inferred resources for the gold explorer.

In a statement, Highland said three exploration targets, Quiet, Pebble, and Watershed, “highlight the exploration potential that still remains within the MNV license area and which the Company continues to focus on.”

Highland expects to publish a JORC-compliant resource estimate for the three targets by the first quarter of 2013.

MNV mine has historically produced about 700,000 ounces of gold between 1991 and 1997. In 2011, Highland has extracted some 143,864 ounces of gold and as at 30^th June 2012, a further 68,751 ounces of the precious yellow metal.

Initial mining has commenced in one of the exploration targets and the company and the company is confident it will be able to meet its target production of between 200,000 and 215,000 ounces of gold and gold equivalents by the end of 2012. Total gold produced from January to June is at 101,900 ounces.

Today’s announcement follows the 161,000 ounces of resource estimate from its Blagodatnoye exploration project and 480,000 ounces from the Lyubov project, both in Russia.

Highland has two operating mines and a third one, the Belaya Gora Project, scheduled to produce its first gold pour in April 2013, according to a separate statement issued by the company today.

Exploration projects are also ongoing elsewhere in Russia, including the recently acquired Klen Gold project, and in Kyrgyzstan.

The announcements led to an 8% increase in the price of Highland’s AIM-listed shares to 95 pence by midday on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at £307 million.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR FREE ON ADVFN, the world's leading stocks and shares information website, provides the private investor with all the latest high-tech trading tools and includes live price data streaming, stock quotes and the option to access 'Level 2' data on all of the world's key exchanges (LSE, NYSE, NASDAQ, Euronext etc).

Follow @kennethgmondero

This area of the ADVFN.com site is for independent financial commentary. These blogs are provided by independent authors via a common carrier platform and do not represent the opinions of ADVFN Plc. ADVFN Plc does not monitor, approve, endorse or exert editorial control over these articles and does not therefore accept responsibility for or make any warranties in connection with or recommend that you or any third party rely on such information. The information available at ADVFN.com is for your general information and use and is not intended to address your particular requirements. In particular, the information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by ADVFN.COM and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making (or refraining from making) any investment decisions. Authors may or may not have positions in stocks that they are discussing but it should be considered very likely that their opinions are aligned with their trading and that they hold positions in companies, forex, commodities and other instruments they discuss.