Alrosa Considering Recovery of By-Product Gold

Alrosa is exploring the possibility of recovering by-product gold simultaneously with its diamond-mining efforts.

The Russian miner has already received approval from the federal state budgetary institution to conduct related exploration work for gold at its Mirny diamond deposit, it said last week. The company will have specialists evaluate the efficiency of gold recovery from the enrichment products of diamond-bearing sands left over from diamond processing at Alrosa’s Mirny-Nyurba plant.

Alrosa previously received approval to mine for precious metals at its Gornoye and Irelyakh sites. At those deposits, by-product gold is recovered together with the washing of diamond-bearing sands at the company’s sorting facilities.

“Once we confirm its effectiveness, associated gold mining can be integrated into the processing plant’s production process,” said Alrosa chief geologist Roman Zhelonkin.

Alrosa has been looking to gold to expand its portfolio and improve the company’s financial stability amid weakness in the diamond market. In 2024, it purchased the Degdekan gold mine in Russia for an initial payment of $274.2 million. Last month, it upped that spend by $102.1 million to expand the site.

Image: Gold nuggets. (Shutterstock)