Eurasia Mining PLC (LON:EUA) shares rose on Thursday after the AIM-listed firm said it expects to upgrade its reserves at the alluvial platinum mine at West Kytlim in Russia following recent drilling and mining.
A new calculation for the total contained platinum for the Kluchiki Area, where mining started in August, has now been submitted for approval.
WATCH: Eurasia Mining potentially able to double production next year at West Kytlim
Operations at the Kluchiki open pit point to bonanza grade ore pockets as the coarser fractions of platinum not captured during sample tests are picked up during mining.
Grades from recent in-fill drilling, meanwhile, ranged from 1.04 grammes per cubic metre to 2.9 g/m3, with one stand-out sample of 4.66 g/m3.
Christian Schaffalitzky, Eurasia’s chairman said: “The grades from the drilling program, and in our Reserve calculation are very much in line with our previous Resource and Reserve grades.
"Grades reported during the mining season have been far in excess of our Resource grades, as it is only through actually mining a deposit like West Kytlim that the true grade of the material can be measured."
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The higher grades have shown through in the first year of production, he added, with total platinum produced at around 165Kg, or 165% of the previous estimates.
Mining has now finished for the season, he added, with work focused on next year.
In early afternoon trading, Eurasia Mining shares were 1.3% higher at 0.40p.
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