Innovations

The Company has a large research base consisting of an R&D Center in Krasnoyarsk, a pilot plant at the Natalka deposit, and research laboratories at the Olimpiada and the Kuranakh Mines. In addition, the Company has its own Project Center in Krasnoyarsk. The Company works in cooperation with the leading research and engineering companies to design and implement new enabling technologies at the Company’s existing production facilities, as well as units under construction. This strong research and project base enables the Company to retain its industry leadership in technology development and maintain competitive operating costs. It also provides for a significant increase in production capacity in the coming years. Key areas of the Company's R&D activities include: solving business issues related to operating facilities and reducing costs; providing technical support to new projects; designing new technologies, and solving issues related to exploration.

Results of innovative activities in 2009

The increase in the volume of sulfide ore processing due to a constant decrease in the amount of gold in the ore at the Olimpiada Mine, as well as the modernization of Mill No. 1 to process Titimukhta deposit ores as a result of major repair work at the mills, resulted in a certain decrease in gold production in the reporting period. As a consequence, in 2009 the Company focused on implemen ting technologies that would increase the efficiency of bioleaching flotation concentrate (BIONORD innovation), cut gold production costs and facilitate the achievement of project objectives for ore processing at the new Mill No. 3 and the modernized Mill No. 1.

Main results from R&D activities performed at the Olimpiada Mine (Krasnoyarsk Region).

1. Implementation of gravity gold recovery from sand from the hydrocyclones at Mills No. 2 and No. 3
2. Implementation of gravity gold recovery from sorption leaching tailings
3. Assessment of the use of absorbent carbon Haycarb RPMC 1004 during the sorption process at Mill No. 3; preparation of proposal for sorbent replacement based on positive test results
4. Determination of the process-dependent parameters of the biooxidation of concentrate with a high pyrrhotine content (greater than 40%) that was obtained during the concentration of the primary sulfide ore of current production at the Olympiada deposit’s Vostochny (Eastern) open pit
5. Testing work to use an oxygen-air mixture during bioleaching and sorption
6. Implementation of sorting lining at the mill of the second stage of ore grinding, as well as discharge grating with a 100 mm slit at the semiautogenous grinding mill (first stage of grinding)
7. Preparation of technical regulations for the design of reused water cleaning stations at the Mill’s tailing dump
8. Preparation of recommendations for improving the efficiency of processing technology and stabilizing the work of the cathode deposit melting site
9. Preparation of recommendations on how to refine the commercial electrolyte obtained from the desorption of gold from carbon, which would allow a reduction in the cathode deposit’s impurity concentration by 50-90%
10. Performance of mineralogical research on primary ores of deep formations at the Olimpiada deposit based on the data from geological and technological tests, which allowed the creation of a preliminary information base for geological metallurgy and ore quality management
11. Performance of laboratory research and industrial tests of biopulp centrifugation in order to dehydrate the pulp of the oxidized product; development of recommendations on the purchase of separators for industrial implementation at GMO-2 Mill No. 3

The modernization of the Kuranakh Mill processing scheme at the Kuranakh Mine in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) continued in the reporting year. In addition, work aimed at selecting a more efficient sorbent for the hydrometallurgical process is being carried out. Research is being carried out in conjunction with the manager’s changing of the application properties of ion-exchange resin.

General testing of ore processing at the mill during the reporting period was performed at the Zapadnoye Mine in the Irkutsk Region.

The implementation of jigging technology and equipment for the enhancement of gold mining efficiency and competitive capacity at alluvial and anthropogenic deposits continued at the alluvial enterprises.

Industrial tests and research work aimed at the adjustment of process parameters and indicators related to primary ore processing at the Blagodatnoye deposit were carried out.

The physical-mechanical properties of rocks were analyzed, and the stability of sloping constructions at the Verninskoye deposit in the Irkutsk Region were calculated in the reporting year. The stability of dumps at the open pit of the deposit was also calculated.

A program was prepared and testing was performed with regard to a new technological ore processing scheme at the Natalka deposit in the Magadan Region. The pilot plant was used to test and confirm processing enterprise design criteria.

A survey entitled “Assessment of photometrical separation application for pre-concentration of ore prospectively produced at the Natalka deposit” was carried out in the reporting year. According to the survey, the ore at the Natalka deposit is high-contrast, and using the photometrical separation method before grinding increases the efficiency of its concentration. The value of radiometry methods application for pre-concentration of ore in lumps is illustrated.

At the Nezhdaninskoye deposit the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the technological standards for ore concentration in the deposit have been developed and the preparation of inputs for the design of an ore mill producing gravity and flotation concentrates has been justified.

The process of oxygen input into the head reactor of sorption cyanidation at the Aksu and Zholymbet Mills was implemented at the production units in Kazakhstan. This increases the pulp’s oxygen uptake and the recovery rate during the sorption process by 5-7%.

Intellectual property

The Company seeks to timely register its copyrights on all its inventions by getting the appropriate patents and certificates, to ensure the solid technological platform for its operations in the long run.

In the reporting year, the Company’s intellectual property consisted of 43 elements:

• 20 patents for various inventions;
• 18 patent for useful models;
• 2 certificates for software systems;
• 1 certificate for database;
• 2 certificates for trademarks.

In 2009 the Company continued to develop its proprietary bacterial oxidation technology BIONORD. The technology was developed by Polyus’ scientists and has been successfully applied at Olimpiada mine for several years.

In the reporting year the Company extended its measure of copyright for BIONORD by getting patents for the following inventions:

• Express-analyses method for concentrations of arseno-pyrite, pyrrhotine, pyrite in sulfide ore concentrate;
• Bacterial oxidation method for gold-containing sulfide concentrates in gold extraction;
• Laboratory installation for research on hydrometallurgical processes with the participation of microorganisms.

A number of patents related to BIONORD are included into the List of crucial technologies of the Russian Federation, that are securing the country’s interests in the areas of national safety, economic and social development.

In the reporting period the Company submitted 4 applications for patents on generic processes of the technology to extract stibium and arsenic from sulfuracid solutions. The technical result of such processes is: stibium recovery up to 93-95%, including from solutions obtained after biooxidation of gold-containing concentrates.

In 2009 the Company also registered its rights in the area of improving the ore pretreatment on the basis of the developed constructions of three-component hydro-cyclone and unloading devises of tumbling mill. The above devises will help to increase efficiency of ore classification by adding a stage of classification of heavy useful component.

In the reporting period the Company also received appropriate titles of protection for technical solutions under the following direction:

In 2009 the Company also received a state registration certificate for the mining equipment database. The database is designed for corporate automated long-term and operative record-keeping and analyses of design parameters and actual performance indicators of trucks, excavators, drills and other mining machines.