First occurrences of gold in the vicinity of Natalka deposit had been found in 1942-1943 as a result of a 1:25 000 scale prospecting of the area between creeks Geologicheskiy and Pavlik. More detailed 1:5 000 scale prospecting in 1944 led to discovery of Natalka, Omchak and Pavlik deposits. General surface and underground exploration of the deposit and the surroundings continued until 1958. Between 1958 and 1967 the emphasis was made on exploration drilling, purposed to obtain more accurate data about major ore bodies involved in production. In the period from 1968 to 1999 exploration continued on a larger scale over the entire ore-bearing zone, at the same time focusing on individual ore bodies. Exploration was conducted by means of surface and underground mining, as well as core drilling. In 2003 the Polyus Group launched a major exploration project to re-evaluate Natalka resources and design a new production concept for the deposit. At the same time new mine’s infrastructure is being built, including ore processing plant and lab facilities.
In total Natalka exploration program provides for some 120,000 meters of core drilling, as well as surface and subsurface mining works. At present 3,300 meters of subsurface mining, 20,000 meters of core drilling and 2,066 meters of trenches have been completed.
According to the last official reserves statement approved by the State Commission on Reserves of the Russian Federation in 1990 Natalka deposit held some 230 tons of gold for by open-pit mining or 245 tons for underground mining. Resources were estimated at 9.39 tons.
In 2003 Natalka reserves were re-evaluated on basis of new technology. At 0.6 g/t cut-off grade Natalka deposit can be considered as large homogenous ore body some 4500 m long and 200 m deep. The deposit of such nature can be efficiently mined by open pit using high-capacity mining and ore processing equipment. The official reserves statement is now being approved by the State Reserves Commission and international auditors.
Further exploration of flanks and lower horizons of the deposit is in process. Full scale production will start in 2010. Total amount of investment in Natalka exploration and reconstruction program will reach $600 million, of which $62 million will be invested in exploration and prospecting. (CO. PROFILE: Matrosov mine holds exploration and production licenses for giant Natalka gold deposit which has been developed since 1944. Polyus Gold is the leading gold producer in Russia and the only Russian company among the world’s largest gold producers. Company's reserves and resources (by JORC classification) as of January 1st 2006 are: 25.1 mln oz of reserves (Proved & Probable) 76.8 mln oz of resources (Indicated, Measured and Inferred). Gold production in 2005 totaled 33.5 tons (1 076 k oz). OJSC Polyus Gold was formed in March 2006 as a result of the spin-off of MMC Norilsk Nickel’s gold mining assets.)
