Companies: POG   

Russia-focused Peter Hambro Mining increased pre-tax profits 136 per cent last year to £22.5 million.

AIM-quoted Peter Hambro, which is concentrating on gold production and prospects in Far East Russia, lifted production five per cent in 2006 to 261,000 attributable ounces and upped turnover 55 per cent to £89 million in a firm gold market. Total production costs at the company’s prime producing mine at Pokrovskiy rose four per cent to $238.5 (£119.3) an ounce, more than $400 below the current market price, as the company worked to contain diesel price rises of 14 per cent, an eight per cent increase in electricity prices and a nine per cent hike in reagents and consumables.

Peter Hambro, which saw off the unwanted attentions of Russian environmental watchdog Oleg Mitvol, has decided to build a stand-alone resin pulp plant at another project, Pioneer, at an estimated eventual cost of $370 million. The company expects this year’s gold production to reach some 283,000 ounces.

Shares in Peter Hambro Mining are 22p up today at £11.97p. Hold on.