The Amur region is home to the Group’s primary operations and a large proportion of its development assets. The region has a good transport system, based on two of Russia’s key railroads, and good access to low cost electricity from two large hydroelectric plants – providing a sound base for gold production.

The Amur region has a vast resource potential and gold production is one of the region’s leading economic sectors; the Amur region ranks third amongst the gold producing regions of the Russian Federation. The region’s economy is diversified and based on industry, agriculture and construction; its key industries are the power, non-ferrous metallurgy, coal, food and forestry and woodworking industries.

The Amur region is located in the south-eastern part of the Russian Federation and borders China in the south and south-west, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the north, the Khabarovsk Territory in the north-east and east, and the Jewish Autonomous Region in the south-east. The region has a total area of almost 364,000 km² and a population of approximately 1 million people.  The Amur River extends along 1,246 km of the southern border of the region and is the official dividing line between Russia and China.

The Group plays a major role in the economy of the Amur Region and is the third largest tax payer, having contributed a total of US$13.8m in 2006.