Ovoca Gold Plc is a gold exploration and mine development company with a strong balance sheet and an exciting portfolio of gold properties in the Magadan region, Russia.  

The Company has a successful track record of developing precious metals assets and bringing value to shareholders. At the beginning of 2009 Ovoca Gold sold its flagship asset, the Goltsovoye silver deposit, for $47.7mn, a near 200% premium to the Company’s market capitalization at the time of sale closing. The entire asset development cycle Ovoca completed on Goltsovoye, from exploration to feasibility study to financing and start of mine construction.

Ovoca Gold’s objective is to utilize the know-how and technical skills of its team to advance its Magadan assets to production and close value accretive transactions for shareholders.  The Company has positioned itself to be the premier gold exploration company in Russia and the partner of choice for strategic investors/global gold miners seeking to enter the Russian market. Ovoca trades on London’s AIM under the ticker OVG, and on Ireland’s IEX under the ticker OVX.

Ovoca has three projects in the Magadan Region, Russia. The Magadan Region is located in the Far East part of the country, directly North of Japan.  The region’s total population is 170,000 and cities which are important for Ovoca’s operations include Magadan (population 100,000), Susuman (7,800), Omsukchan (4,500) and Seimchan (3,700).

The Magadan Region in geography is marked by rolling mountains with a maximum height of 2,000 meters above sea level. The region is in a permafrost zone, and although there is vegetation consisting of various arctic trees and shrubs. The area’s climate is continental with long winters up to seven months and a short dry summer. The minimum average air temperature for January is between -40 and -50 degrees Celsius and the maximum average air temperature for July is between +10 and +20 degrees Celsius. Snow cover is established in early October and melts by the end of May.

Because of the harsh climate and general poor infrastructure development of the region, exploration and mine building logistics are very seasonal. Equipment is moved to off-road sites before the winter thaw starts in April, so that frozen riverbeds can be used as a transport system and so that wet bogs do not hinder movement.

While drilling and other operations can be conducted in winter, summer is a more effective time to work.

Ovoca’s three properties in the Magadan Region are: Stakhanovsky, Rassoshinskaya, Nevsko-Pestrinskoye.

Stakhanovsky is located approximately 40 kilometres north of Susuman, the second largest city in the Magadan Region.  It is accessible by year-round road and there is power infrastructure on site. Internal preliminary estimates suggest a gold resource (non JORC code nor Russian standard compliant) of over 700,000 ounces.  The Company intends to put Stakhanovsky into production by 2013.

Rassoshinskaya is in the North Eastern part of the Magadan Region about 200 kilometres from the town of Seimchan. There is no nearby infrastructure. Rassoshinskaya hosts an epithermal gold deposit named Olcha, which is the focus of Ovoca’s exploration program. Olcha and nearby satellite deposits have the potential to host a high grade multi-million ounce gold resource.

Nevsko-Pestrinskoye is located in the central part of the Magadan Region near the town of Omsukchan. A year-round road and powerline are near the site. The license completely surrounds the Goltsovoye silver deposit, which was owned by the Company from 2006 – 2009 and sold to JSC Polymetal for US$47.7 million at the time of closing. Ovoca intends to investigate and explore known mineral occurrences that extend beyond the Goltsovoye license area onto Nevsko-Pestrinskoye. 

Mr. Mogutov joined the board of Ovoca in June 2006 and became Chairman in 2008.

In 1988 Mr. Mogutov was a founder of the Bioprocess Group, which was an asset management and business-development company with interests in various industries. One notable success of the Bioprocess Group is OAO "United Machinery Plants" (OMZ), which is Russia’s largest machine building company producing the majority of Russian-made oil rigs and mining/drilling equipment. In 1996 OMZ was the first Russian company to list on the London Stock Exchange.

Between 1997 and 1999 Mr. Mogutov was the Chairman of Vostsibugol, one of Russia’s largest coal mining enterprises, with an annual output of over 13 million tons of coal. He become increasingly active in natural resource development after 1999 and in 2006 he was part of the group that vended into Ovoca Gold Plc 100% of OAO Ajax - the owner of the high grade Goltsovoye silver project in the Magadan Region, Russia.

Doctorate, Moscow Physics-Technical Institute, Moscow, Russia. Moscow resident. Fluent in Russian and English.

Mr. McCutcheon joined the Board of Ovoca as a Non-Executive Director in January 2009 and moved into the CEO position in December 2009.

Prior to Ovoca Mr. McCutcheon was a partner at DBM Capital Partners, an investment manager and corporate finance boutique specializing in the mining sector of Russia and the former Soviet Union. He also worked at several investment banks such as Bear Stearns, Aton Capital and Pioneer Investments as an award-winning metals and mining sector analyst and as an investment banker. He was one of the first analysts in Russia to write about its gold mining sector and he has advised numerous international gold mining companies on M&A, business development, and Russian business practices.

BA, cum laude, Columbia College, New York, NY. MBA, Finance, Columbia Business School. Moscow resident. Fluent in English and Russian.

Mr. Skoptsov joined the board of Ovoca in June 2006 and was the Company’s CEO from 2006 to 2009.

Mr. Skoptsov was part of the Bioprocess Group team that owned and ran OAO "United Machinery Plants" (OMZ). He also played an active part in natural resource development prior to Ovoca. He was the Chairman of OAO Pervaya Gornorudnaya Companiya from 2001 - 2005, a zinc-lead asset developer. He was also the Chairman of OAO Volganeft from 2000 to 2004, a mid-tier oil producer in Russia which was successfully sold to Russneft. He was part of the group that vended into Ovoca Gold Plc 100% of OAO Ajax – Goltsovoye.

BA, cum laude, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia. Moscow resident. Fluent in Russian and English.

Mr. Schissel, a geologist, worked for BHP Billiton for almost 30 years. Positions included: Regional Exploration Manager - Eurasia between 1992 - 1999 and Exploration Manager - Russia and Kazakhstan between 2005 - 2009. Team discovery of Oyu Tolgoi copper gold deposit in Mongolia (now Ivanhoe Mines) and Jinlong gold deposit in China.

MSc Geology, University of Montana, Missoula, USA.

Mr. Radchenko became a board member of Ovoca in June 2006.

Mr. Radchenko is a Magadan resident and has a long history of natural resource development in the region. He was deeply involved in the development of the Julietta gold-silver mine by Bema Gold Corporation and he is currently the Chairman of Julietta’s operating company. Additionally, he was the discoverer of the Lunnoye silver deposit, which is now one of OAO Polymetal’s core assets. He was part of the group that vended into Ovoca Gold Plc 100% of OAO Ajax – Goltsovoye.

MS Geology, Kazakhstan Polytechnical Institute, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Magadan resident. 

Svetlana Radchenko - Chief Financial Officer

Kirill Golovanov - Company Secretary, Head Russia Office

Sergey Pakhomov - Magadan Regional Manager

Oleg Tsopanov - Head Geologist

Andrey Tsoy - Senior Geologist

Vyacheslav Makeev - Head Metallurgist