Gold miner Solidcore eyes Gulf financing in post-Russia strategy
MOSCOW - Kazakh gold miner Solidcore is considering issuing bonds in the Gulf region to finance investment, including in new projects in Kazakhstan estimated to cost up to $350 million, the company's CEO Vitaly Nesis told Reuters.
Solidcore, formerly Polymetal International, is the second-largest gold miner in Kazakhstan. The company had to sell its Russian assets, which represented 70% of its output, in 2024 after its business there came under U.S. sanctions.
The new company, listed in Kazakhstan and with Oman's government-owned fund Mercury Investments as its largest shareholder, had to design its five-year investment programme from scratch.
"The main strategic outcome of 2024 was the launch of our full-fledged investment program," Nesis told Reuters. "We are very actively considering the option of issuing exchange-traded bonds in the Gulf countries," he said.
Nesis said that exchanges, based in UAE and Oman, could be an option for the bond placement, while bank loans and share issuance also remained on the table.
"There is the Muscat Stock Exchange, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. We are looking at different forms, including classic bonds and sukuk (Islamic bonds). We are actively working with rating agencies, given that this direction as very promising," Nesis said.
Nesis said the company's investment in the new Syrymbet tin project is estimated at about $250 million. Solidcore's Tokhtar gold project in Northern Kazakhstan is still at the exploration stage, but is estimated to cost $50-100 million.
The company plans to double output to 1 million ounces of gold equivalent by 2029 and invest more than $1 billion excluding M&A until 2029 with focus on its the Ertis pressure oxidation hub in Kazakhstan.
Record gold prices and sales growth almost doubled Solidcore's net profit in 2024, but Nesis said the gold rally may not last.
"We believe that the current level of gold prices is unlikely to persist even in the medium term. Therefore, when we plan, we plan conservatively," Nesis said.
Nesis said that the company looked at potential acquisitions of production assets in Uzbekistan and Oman.
"We are asking our first steps in the M&A arena, preparing the groundwork for the company's further growth," Nesis said.
Nesis reiterated that despite the high gold prices the company was not planning to pay any dividends as long as some of its shares were stuck in Russia's sanctioned National Settlement Depositary (NSD), part of the Moscow Stock Exchange.
(Writing by Gleb Bryanski; editing by David Evans)
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