Polyus to write down value of assets in Russia
Many global gold producers have had to slash capital spending and exploration expenses.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s No. 1 gold miner Polyus Gold, part-owned by billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, said it would write down the value of its assets by up to $480 million because of a steep fall in the price of gold.
Many global gold producers have had to slash capital spending and exploration expenses and make billions of dollars in writedowns as a result of a 19 percent fall in the price of gold since the start of 2013.
Polyus Gold said it had reassessed its exploration prospects and the productivity of its mines against that price backdrop and expected to make a non-cash impairment charge of between $460 and $480 million in its first-half results on August 30.
It said the impairment was based on a long-term assumption of the gold price at $1,350 per ounce. Gold is currently trading around $1,376 per ounce.
The write-down includes $320 million linked to its Nezhdaninskoe mine in Russia s Yakutia region and to its Degdekanskoe mine in Russia s Far East, as well as $140 million linked to its Kuranakh mine in Yakutia.
Polyus s London-listed shares were down 0.8 percent at 206.25 pence by 1436 GMT, compared with a 2.9 percent decline in the FTSE Gold Mines Index.
