The Tabornoe deposit is hosted by a potassic metasomatite zone, developed in the sandstones, which strikes EW and dips to the south, parallel to the orientation of the thrust zone.

The principal tectonic features in the area consist of a set of N-S striking, steeply dipping faults a NE – SW striking and steeply dipping shear zone and a shallow thrust of E-W strike, dipping to the south at 20-30°; gold mineralisation is believed to be directly related to the latter.

The Tabornoe deposit is hosted by early Proterozoic sandstones of the Olonnokonskiy Formation. The sandstones are massive, fine to medium grained, and of quartz-feldspar and feldspar-quartz composition. The sandstones are horizontal or shallow dipping to the north, northeast and east, typically at dips of 10 30°.

The Tabornoe orebody is located within a northeast striking shear zone, the associated discontinuities form natural west and east boundaries to Ore Zone 1. The wedge zone between the discontinuites is broken by a system of east-west and northeast striking upthrows, dipping to the south at 70° and thrusts, dipping at 10-35°, also to the south.

Three main lithologies have been identified at the deposit: sandstones, syenite porphyry dyke and metasomatites.

Four stages of alteration have been identified in the open pit, ranging from fresh sandstone to limonite-quartzpotassium feldspar metasomatites in which the original structure cannot be distinguished. Altered sandstones and metasomatites contain mono- or polymineralic veinlets of quartz, potassium feldspar and clinozoisite, 0.1 to 0.8mm in thickness, and also contain very finely disseminated molybdenite, oxidised pyrite crystals, possibly other sulphide minerals, dendritic pyrolusite and very rare free gold.

Tabornoe comprises a complex set of orebodies occurring in altered sandstone and syenite porphyry dyke. Gold bearing mineralisation occurs in all altered rocks types, notably including the syenite porphyry dyke.

Nordgold’s open pit operations use conventional surface mining methods involving drilling and blasting, followed by a load and haul process allowing for selective mining of the ore.

Ore is processed by conventional 2-stage crushing and stacking, or dump leaching. Operations at Neryungri utilise the simplest heap-leaching extraction method available, owing to the highly oxidised low-grade ore. Gold is adsorbed from pregnant leach solution in carbon in solution columns, followed by desorption, electro-winning and smelting to produce gold doré. Production at the mine is subject to significant seasonal variations due to harsh winter temperatures. The majority of the crushing and stockpiling of ore occurs from May to September each year, and the majority of gold production occurs from July to December, as the cyanide spray used in heap leaching cannot penetrate the frozen ore.

Ore from the pit is then transported to a designated stockpile and fed into a crushing circuit. The sized ore is then conveyed to a Heap Leach Facility.

The ore is heaped on a clay lined leach pad where it is irrigated with the sodium cyanide leach solution. The solution per ........