Moscow Times 13 Mar 2012
Nordgold, the gold-mining company spun off from Severstal this year, plans to double reserves in the next four years and is looking for emerging market acquisitions as it raises output worldwide.
The gold producer, listed in London, will invest $800 million through 2015 to increase reserves from 8.2 million ounces now and boost output by almost 60 percent to about 1.2 million ounces, chief executive Nikolai Zelensky said.
“We don’t have an immediate goal to become a top 10 company, but we don’t rule out any large merger in the future,” Zelensky, 38, said in an interview. While existing reserves are sufficient to ensure future output, organic growth is “only the base case,” he said.
Severstal, the steelmaker controlled by billionaire Alexei Mordashov, created Nordgold from scratch, buying gold assets in Russia, Kazakhstan and Africa. The gross deposit in Russia’s Sakha republic and Bissa in Burkina Faso in West Africa are set to start producing next year.