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To: Dale Baker who wrote (48542)	9/21/2006 7:39:56 PM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 118717

Polyus plans to buy back shares, triple gold output OAO Polyus Gold will spend $1-billion to buy back as much as 10 percent of its shares this year before listing in London by the end of the first quarter of 2007. Polyus, Russia's biggest gold producer, wants to list its existing American depositary receipts on the London Stock Exchange, the Moscow-based company said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. The buyback and listing are part of a strategic plan approved by Polyus's board on Sept. 14. Moscow-based Polyus was spun off from OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, the world's biggest nickel and palladium miner, on Jan. 1. Its shares began trading in Russia in May. The buyback may start as soon as a month and a half from now, after the company's financial statements for the second quarter are audited, Polyus Chief Executive Officer Evgeny Ivanov said on a conference call on Monday. The pricing will be set “a few days” before the offering memorandum is signed off, he said. Deutsche Bank AG will organise the buyback, Ivanov said. Billionaires Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov will probably sell no more than 5 percent to retain a majority stake, Vedomosti reported. Potanin and Prokhorov, whose wealth is estimated by Forbes magazine at $6,4-billion each, own 55 percent of Polyus. Polyus plans to more than triple gold output to 3,9-million ounces of gold by 2015 from 1.1 million ounces last year to become one of the world's top five producers. The company will spend $3,4-billion to develop existing mines and $800-million on exploration. It also plans to buy new mines in Russia with no less than 2-million ounces of gold reserves or international fields with at least 3-million ounces of reserves. It's favoured to win an auction of Sukhoi Log, Russia's biggest untapped gold deposit, after President Vladimir Putin said only Russian companies will be allowed to bid. The company was chosen for a joint reassessment of the deposit Sept. 11.