The Group has demonstrated impressive organic growth through thirteen years of activity in Russia thanks to its excellent asset base located in geologically promising regions. Exploration work is currently taking place at our vast portfolio of assets, comprising 14 projects, and as a result, the most promising projects are being advanced on the Group's priority list.
Exploration at Izvestkovaya Sopka, Adamkiha, Gar II and Bryantinskaya remains at a very early stage. Nevertheless, new data available at each is encouraging in that gold mineralisation is being identified - in many cases with high-grade assays.
Izvestkovaya Sopka
An exploration licence for this area in the central Amur region, 150km east of Pokrovskiy was acquired in 2005. In 2006 exploration field work including 1:5,000 scale geological mapping, deep drilling (4,500m) and trenching (168,000m3) have been carried out in this area. Three types of gold mineralisation have been identified: quartzite metasomatite, epidote skarns, and magnetite-pyrrhotite skarns. Quartzite metasomatite bodies are up to 2m thick and up to 200m long, with gold grades up to 13.8g/t. The epidote skarn is 16.5m thick, 74m in length, with high gold grades (up to a maximum of 322g/t). The magnetite-pyrrhotite skarn forms a body 19.1m x 120m in size. Although some of these ore bodies contain high gold grades, they are relatively small, and it is considered that they represent the deeply eroded remnants of ore bodies forming the source of rich placers in the surrounding area.
Gar II
This is an exploration licence area of 92km2 in the central Amur region, 30km to the north-west of Izvestkovaya Sopka which was acquired by the Group in 2005. In 2006 work was started (including 67,000m3 of trenching and 6,750m of shallow drill holes) to confirm geological structures identified by aerogeophysical and geochemical surveys. Serpentinised ultrabasic rock was intersected and fragments of chromite nodules have been found, containing grains of gold and PGMs. Exploration for the original source of this ore is continuing.
Adamikha
This is an exploration licence area (240km2) located 40km east of Izvestkovaya Sopka and was acquired by the Group in 2005. Following geophysical surveys in 2005, surface exploration started in 2006, with the first 290m3 of trenching. Possible hard-rock sources of placer gold have been identified, as promising targets for exploration. They include >20m thick metasomatised breccias in the Adamikha valley and a separate zone of argillisation with galena mineralisation. Exploration will continue in 2007.
Bryantinskaya (Solnechnoye)
This licence area (150km2) was acquired by the Group in 2005. It is located in the far north of the Amur region. In 2006 geochemical surveying was completed and geological mapping has identified four ore occurrences, the most promising two of which were intersected by trenching. In the Solnechnoye target area, geological mapping discovered a gold-bearing quartz stockwork (>200m thick) in a liparitic volcanic pipe. This is confirmed by results from trenching, with assays up to 15g/t. In the Salakit area, a zone of gold-bearing (2.1g/t over 30.0m thickness) silicification, carbonatisation, and brecciation has been discovered. Exploration is continuing in 2007.
Other assets
The Group holds a number of other exploration and development assets within the exploration and development portfolio. It is planned that discussion of work undertaken and results for these assets will appear on the Peter Hambro Mining Plc website as and when material results are generated.
