Lobash-1 deposit is located 80-kilometers from the Belomorsk city in the constituent republic of Karelia, and 1 kilometer from the Lobash molybdenum deposit.
The reserves of the gold-sulphide-quartz ore of the deposit at the depth of 150 meters are calculated at 1.074 million tones, under C2 category. The ore is estimated to contain approximately 5.06 tonnes of gold, 4,300 tonnes of copper, and 10.7 tonnes of silver.
Projected gold resources under P1 category at the depth of 250 meters were estimated at 720,000 tonnes of ore with an average gold content of 4.1 grams per tonne. The reserves estimate may be increased through south-eastern flanks of the deposit, as well as through deeper exploration.
Technological researches of the deposit’s gold-sulphide-quartz ore carried out by Russia’s Research center of the Institute for geological exploration of base and precious metals (TSNiGRi) show that the ore can be enriched by applying combined gravitation and flotation methods, which will allow producing gold-sulhide concentrate containing 45.27 grams of gold per tonne (recovery rate stands at 91.9%), 5.0% of copper (recovery rate at 95.3%), and 60.57 grams of silver per tonne (recovery rate of 42.4%). The concentrates can be processed at the Monchegorsk metallurgy plant.
