Polyus Zoloto : Trading update for 4Q and FY 2015

25.01.2016

For immediate release

Polyus Gold International Limited

Trading update for 4Q and FY 2015

Polyus Gold International Limited ('PGIL', 'Polyus Gold' or the 'Group'), the largest gold producer in Russia, today releases its operating results for 4Q and FY 2015.

Q4 2015 Highlights

• Total gold production of 466 thousand ounces, flat y-o-y
• Mills at Olimpiada, Blagodatnoye and Verninskoye continued to operate at above the nameplate capacity levels
• Trial mining and processing launched at the Poputninskoye deposit, close to the Group's Krasnoyarsk assets
• Estimated quarterly gold sales of $488 million (Q3 2015: $593 million)

FY 2015 Highlights

• LTIFR of 0.08, down 11% from 0.09 in FY 2014
• Total gold output for the year of 1,763 thousand ounces, up 4% y-o-y, exceeding the upper end of the guidance range of 1,630-1,710 thousand ounces for FY 2015
• The average recovery for the Group totaled 84.5%, 2.3 ppts up y-o-y with recoveries at Olimpiada increased by 3.8 ppts to 79.6% marking the fifth consecutive year of improvement
• Further progress in debottlenecking and increasing processing capacities at Olimpiada and Blagodatnoye, where mills operated 19% and 25% above the nominal capacities respectively
• First gold poured (2.4 koz) from the promising mid-size Poputninskoye deposit
• Estimated annual gold sales of $2,042 million (FY 2014: $2,156 million)
• Estimated positive effect from the Strategic Price Protection Program of $116 million
• Estimated net debt position of $143 million as at 31 December 2015
• Guidance of 1.76-1.80 million ounces of total gold production for FY 2016

Pavel Grachev, Chief Executive Officer of Polyus Gold, commented:

'Despite a challenging year for the commodities sector as a whole, we continued our transformation programs and are confident we are on the right track to achieve our strategic targets. Our total gold output in 2015 reached another record level of 1,763 thousand ounces providing a 4% y-o-y increase thus marking the eighth consecutive year of production growth. In particular, I would like to highlight the progress at Olimpiada and Verninskoye, where we managed to improve recoveries and increase processing volumes. We also successfully optimized operations at Titimukhta achieving increased productivity and lower costs.
As a member of ICMM, we are pleased to report that our operational growth was achieved alongside an improvement in health and safety metrics with LTIFR reduced by a further 11% y-o-y to 0.08 and the number of fatalities at our operations was cut from 4 to 1 in 2015. We remain resolute in our determination to be a zero fatality company and are implementing a number of key HSE policies to help us achieve this important goal.

During the year we continued to seek sustainable cost reductions across our operations through our TOE program and began the roll out of the Polyus Production System (PPS).

In 2016, we anticipate another year of production growth for Polyus Gold and expect our total gold output to be in the range of 1.76-1.80 million ounces'.

Link to full announcement

Conference call information

Polyus Gold will host an analyst conference call today at 1 pm London time to present and discuss the 4Q and FY 2015 operating results.
UK toll free 0808 237 0060
UK International [phone]
USA toll free 1877 841 4559
Russia toll free 8108 00206 85011

A replay of the conference call will be available from 3 pm London time on 25 January 2016, for the duration of 30 days.
To access the replay, please dial:
UK toll free 0808 237 0026
UK International [phone]
Russia toll free 495 660 4512
USA toll-free 1866 535 8030
Access number 667023#

Investor contact
Sergey Krivokhizhin, Director Investor Relations
[phone] [e-mail]

Media contact
Artem Gorbachev, Press Secretary
[phone] [e-mail]

Forward looking statements

This announcement may contain 'forward-looking statements' concerning PGIL. Generally, the words 'will', 'may', 'should', 'could', 'would', 'can', 'continue', 'opportunity', 'believes', 'expects', 'intends', 'anticipates', 'estimates' or similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements relating to future capital expenditures and business and management strategies and the expansion and growth of PGIL's operations. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to actors that are beyond PGIL's ability to control or estimate precisely and therefore undue reliance should not be placed on such statements which speak only as at the date of this announcement. PGIL assumes no obligation in respect of, and does not intend to update, these forward-looking statements, except as required pursuant to applicable law.