Russian Polyus Gold recently sold its assets in Romania, a gold treatment plant and three exploration licenses in Maramures county to SAT & Company, a company based in Kazakhstan, for some USD 20 million.

The Russian firm owns the Romanian assets through Romal­tyn Mining and Romal­tyn Exploration, controlled through an Isle of Man company, Ro­maltyn Limited. The Russian sellers's gold treatment plant in Baia Mare, currently not in operation, has a capacity of 2.5 million tonnes of ore and tailings annually. The deal should be finalized in the second quarter of 2012.

Polyus Gold ended 2011 with USD 2.3 billion in sales, reflecting increased sales volumes and higher gold price. Its profit after tax was of USD 1.1 billion, up 55 percent on the year before.

The company holds the world’s third largest gold reserves with about 91 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves, with main operations in Russia's Eastern Siberia and the Far East and in Kazakhstan.

editor@romania-insider.com