Russian gold production 'could triple by 2015'

The governor of Krasnoyarsk in Russia believes that his country's gold production will greatly increase over the coming few years, although some were sceptical.

Alexander Khloponin believes that Russia will produce far more of the yellow metal per annum by the time the gold medals are handed out at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Reuters reports.

If all three of the nation's top miners achieve what they have said they will, output will more than triple by 2015 because of a wave of new investment, he said.

Polyus Gold plans to more than triple its own output to 3.9 million ounces by this time by tapping resources in remote regions. However, Alfa Bank analyst Vladimir Zhukov said the company has "issues with execution".

Peter Hambro Mining, Russia's third-largest gold miner, expects its gold production this year to amount to 283,000 ounces. Although operating expenses may increase, the development of the Pioneer project is so far on track.

Despite this, Thomson Financial is reporting that Russian gold production actually fell by 3.4 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2007.