MINMET has bought 40 per cent of a Russian gold mining company. The stake in

Zabaikalzoloto Joint Stock Company in Siberia will be held by MinMet's Irish subsidiary, Zabaikal Mining Corporation.

Under the agreement, the company is no longer responsible for raising $60 million (£37.5 million), project finance for the Siberian company.

Mr Peter Earl, a director of MinMet, and Mr Sean Byrne, the chief geologist, have been elected to the board of Zabaikalzoloto.

Zabaikalzoloto has total gold reserves of 12 million ounces located at four deep mines and 21 placer mines in south eastern Siberia.

According to the company, at the height of its production in Communist times, Zabaikalzoloto produced 15 tonnes of gold a year, of which 3.5 tonnes were produced at Darasun, where MinMet is planning to build a new processing plant."