Russia will become the world's second largest gold producer after the largest mining and smelting facility was launched, said the press service of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East Wednesday.
After the facility was launched by Russia's gold producer Poluys to develop the Natalka gold deposit in the country's Magadan Region, the volume of ore processing will exceed 200 million tons per year, while the volume of gold production will be 13 million tons per year, which increases the country's gold production by 5 percent, the ministry said.
This will make Russia the second largest gold producer in the world after China, the press service quoted Polyus CEO Pavel Grachev as saying.
Polyus officially launched the first stage of hot commissioning of Natalka on Sept. 5. Full production is expected before the end of 2018.
Natalka is located in the Tenkinskiy District of Magadan Region, about 400 km away from the city of Magadan.
Natalka, initially discovered in 1942, has the largest gold deposit in Russia, yielding 25 percent of its gold.