From geological studies, three seperate deposits have now been identified at Malomir: the Malomir deposit (formerly Diagonal zone ore body), the Quartzite deposit (formerly Quartzite zone) and the Ozhidaemoye deposit (north-eastern extension of the Diagonal structure, north of the Malomir river). Exploration trenching and core drilling during 2006 concentrated on detailed delineation of reserves on the Malomir deposit and on obtaining preliminary information on the Quartzite and Ozhidaemoye deposits. Exploration also continued on the south-western flank of the Malomir deposit now identified seperately as the Diagonal zone. There are five drill rigs operating at Malomir.
With intensive drill hole and trench data, it is no longer necessary to rely upon predecessor data: previous estimates are fully confirmed by the new results. It should be further noted that because the main focus has been delineation of the main gently dipping ore zones, estimates do not yet include the steeply inclined high-grade zones known to exist, but which are poorly sampled by near-vertical drill holes.
The exploration camp, which was constructed in 2005 has been expanded, a permanent all-year mine access to the main regional road has been constructed and a 110kV power line is now in operation.
Gold mineralisation in the Malomir deposit occurs in multiple branching crush zones above and below a major thrust fault, with steeply dipping cross-cutting structures containing higher gold grades.
In the north-eastern part of the deposit four enriched areas have been defined, which appear to be associated with ore columns. The average gold grade of these varies between 2.3-3.5g/t. They contribute up to 19% of the total Russian Category C reserves at Malomir.
Exploration at the Quartzite deposit has shown that gold occurs in both granitoids and adjacent slates and that the granitoids represent highly altered sedimentary rocks. Their mineralogy includes quartz and feldspars, indicating a high alteration temperature. It is now clear that the structure and mineralisation styles are much more analogous to the Malomir deposit itself, though with the added advantages of low sulphides and an absence of carbon. Mineralisation at the Quartzite deposit is associated with the zones of metasomatic alteration. More work is needed to clarify the inter-relationships between these and the sedimentary layering and tectonic structures, and hence the principal controls on ore distribution in the Quartzite deposit. At a cut-off grade of 0.8g/t, 20 ore intersections have been identified (and at a natural cut-off grade of 0.3g/t there are significantly more intervals), but it is too early to correlate them into defined ore bodies.
The Ozhidaemoye deposit, open to the north-east is structurally and lithologically simply an eastwards extension of the Malomir deposit with a similar mineralisation style in multiple branching crush zones. Seven sub-parallel ore bodies have been identified through trenching and sparse drilling. Much further exploration is needed to establish reserves and resources.
A study of metallurgical and hydrogeological properties within the Malomir deposit has started. So far, a total of 391 samples have been taken for phase analysis with six bulk samples (from 139kg to 2,080kg) from different ore types and different parts of the deposit. Preliminary data suggests that gravitation-flotation is the optimum processing route for more than 90% of the ore, with 85.6% recovery.
