The Areal group, formerly known as Highland Gold, has expanded its geographic footprint and entered Karelia for the first time. LLC Aurora-Resurs, which is linked to the Pertinjärvi gold deposit, has come under its control. The deal closed in mid-October, and since the 20th, MKPAO Areal has been acting as the managing organization.
The buyer of the 75% stake was Cross Holding, part of the group. According to Rosnedra archive data as of March 2021, Pertinjärvi’s C2-category reserves were estimated at 4.431 tonnes of gold. No more recent estimate is publicly available, and commercial mining at the deposit is not yet under way.
Analyst Maxim Shaposhnikov estimates the project’s potential value at RUB 300–500 million. He names heap leaching as one option for processing the ore, but stresses that the technology’s applicability has yet to be confirmed by testing.
To put the scale in perspective: in 2025, Areal’s operations produced 30.3 tonnes of gold. Against that backdrop the new asset looks modest, but it is important as a step into a new region and an addition to the resource base.
Pertinjärvi is still at an early stage: the reserves require confirmation, the processing technology needs testing, and mining needs to be launched. For Areal, it is a bet on future portfolio expansion in Karelia; for the region, a potential new mining project.
Source: zolteh.ru
Image: Areal
