SVETLOYE 


                         3 months ended June 30,          6 months ended June 30, 
                                                 % change                         % change 
                         2021        2020                 2021        2020 
MINING 
Waste mined, Mt          1.1         0.9         +22%     1.8         1.6         +9% 
Ore mined (open pit), Kt 536         561         -4%      926         907         +2% 
 
PROCESSING 
Ore stacked, Kt          366         317         +16%     648         626         +4% 
Gold grade, g/t          2.8         3.7         -24%     3.7         4.0         -9% 
Gold production, Koz     26          31          -15%     53          52          +2% 
 
TOTAL PRODUCTION 
Gold, Koz                26          31          -15%     53          52          +2%

Quarterly gold production at Svetloye contracted y-o-y on the back of the planned decline in grade. Stacking increase is attributable to the low base of Q2 2020 when stacking volumes were impacted by maintenance shutdown of the ore crushing complex.

Waste mined jumped as mining started at the new Lyudmila pit.

VORO 


                     3 months ended June 30,          6 months ended June 30, 
                                             % change                         % change 
                     2021        2020                 2021        2020 
MINING 
Waste mined, Mt      3.0         -           NA       3.6         -           NA 
Ore mined, Kt        57          -           NA       68          -           NA 
 
PROCESSING 
CIP 
Ore processed, Kt    262         260         +1%      522         529         -1% 
Gold grade, g/t      1.9         2.2         -17%     2.0         2.2         -8% 
Gold recovery1       84.6%       82.5%       +3%      84.2%       82.3%       +2% 
Gold production, Koz 16          18          -11%     36          36          -0% 
 
Heap Leach 
Ore stacked, Kt      -           22          -100%     -          22          -100% 
Gold grade, g/t      -           0.9         -100%     -          0.9         -100% 
Gold production, Koz 2           4           -53%     4           6           -38% 
 
TOTAL PRODUCTION 
Gold, Koz            18          22          -18%     40          42          -6%

Note: (1) Technological recovery, includes gold within work-in-progress inventory.

Gold production at Voro continued to drift lower as the plant processed predominantly low-grade historical stockpiles. Recovery for the reporting quarter and H1 improved by 3 p.p. and 2 p.p. y-o-y respectively as oxidized ore from Saum was introduced to the feed.

At the Voro flotation plant, the foundations for equipment and steel framework for the concentrator building were completed. SAG and ball mills have been installed. The project is 50% completed.

NEZHDA 


                3 months ended June 30,          6 months ended June 30, 
                                        % change                         % change 
                2021        2020                 2021        2020 
MINING 
Waste mined, Mt 5.6         -           NA       11.0        -           NA 
Ore mined, Kt   365         -           NA       710         -           NA

Construction and mining activities proceeded on schedule. Mechanical completion of key equipment, including SAG and ball mills, was achieved. Cold commissioning of individual equipment items is in progress with multiple representatives of international suppliers on site.

Construction of the dry-stack tailings storage facility is nearing completion. The project is on track to produce first concentrate on November 1, 2021.

POX-2

Construction progressed on schedule. In Q2, the large-sized equipment of oxygen station was installed. Equipment foundation construction at the POX building is being finalized. Downstream circuit metal framework construction was completed.

The Suez straits crisis lead to multiple delays in shipment of key equipment from Europe. The management is evaluating alternative options of ensuring the timely arrival of items on the critical path, including booking single-cargo vessels at increased cost.

SUSTAINABILITY, HEALTH AND SAFETY

There were no fatal accidents during the first half of the year (consistent with H1 2020) among Polymetal's workforce and the Company's contractors. We regret to report that on July 18 a drilling contractor lost his life at the Saum open-pit mine, part of Voro operations. We send our condolences to the family and friends of our colleague. The incident is currently under investigation to understand the root cause of the accident to prevent any recurrence.

LTIFR among the Group's employees in Q2 2021 stood at 0.10, in comparison with 0.08 in Q2 2020, while for the first half of 2021 LTIFR was 0.17 vs 0.07 a year earlier. There were three incidents among employees during the quarter and no incidents with contractor workers. During H1 2021, there were ten lost-time injuries in total vs four cases during H1 2020.

In Q2, Vigeo Eiris (part of Moody's ESG solutions), a global leader in ESG assessments, data, research and analytics , raised Polymetal's overall ESG score from 48 to 69 (out of 100) which corresponds with the Advanced level, the highest on the company's ranking scale. The new score places Polymetal on the second place out of 43 in the Mining & Metals sector and 22nd place in the global ranking universe (4,939 companies). For more information visit vigeo-eiris.com.

The reporting quarter was also marked with a couple of other external recognitions, which confirms our success as a responsible company: Polymetal took the 7th place in Russia's 30 most eco-friendly companies rating and the 2nd place among metals and mining companies in Russia by Forbes.

COVID-19 UPDATE

Epidemiological situation in the Company remains under control. Number of active cases increased q-o-q as Russia and Kazakhstan entered the third wave of the pandemic. As of the date of this press release, there are less than 50 active cases of the disease in Polymetal, none of which observed at production sites. Operations and development projects continue undisrupted. All precautionary measures, including extensive testing and observatory periods, are maintained at all sites.

Multiple regions introduced requirements for mandatory vaccination within certain industries (hospitality, transportation services). Continuously operating industries (including mining) are currently not targeted. Polymetal continues to facilitate non-obligatory vaccination among employees by organizing vaccination at local hospitals or establishing vaccination points on site.

The Company estimates COVID-related cash expenses at approximately USUSD 5 million per month with the majority recorded as operating costs. This translates into roughly USUSD 35 per GE ounce in AISC. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] For more information visit vigeo-eiris.com. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 


ISIN:          JE00B6T5S470 
Category Code: MSCH 
TIDM:          POLY 
LEI Code:      213800JKJ5HJWYS4GR61 
Sequence No.:  118521 
EQS News ID:   1221796 
 
End of Announcement  EQS News Service 
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July 27, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)