Polymetal Agrees to Acquire Sopka Kvartsevaya and Dalniy Gold-Silver Deposits

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Saint-Petersburg, Russia, April 08, 2009 - further to the announcement by JSC "Polymetal" (LSE, MICEX, RTS: PMTL) ("Polymetal" or the "Company") on March 23, 2009 that it was in discussions in relation to the purchase of OOO "Rudnik Kvartsevyi" ("RK"), Polymetal announces that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with a group of Russian companies (the "Sellers"), under which it has agreed to purchase 100% of RK for the total consideration of 10 million of Polymetal's shares on a debt-free basis (the "Transaction"). RK owns, inter alia, the mining license to the Sopka Kvartsevaya gold-silver deposit ("Sopka") and a 100% stake in OOO "Vneshstroygroup", owning the mining license to the Dalniy gold-silver deposit ("Dalniy").

Both Sopka and Dalniy are located in the Severo-Evensky district of Magadan region, approximately 180 kilometers from Polymetal's Kubaka mill and 80 kilometers from the port of Evensk. Both deposits can be accessed by winter road from Magadan and by seasonal navigation through Evensk.

The Sopka deposit was discovered in 1969 and has been extensively explored by trenching, drilling, and 9 km of underground workings in 1971-2007. Reserves and resources at the deposit were estimated by AMC Consultants under JORC guidelines in 2007 and are summarized below (at a 0.5g/t gold-equivalent cut-off grade):

The Dalniy deposit was discovered in 1964 and has been extensively explored by Soviet geologists. Russian State balance reserves for Sopka are summarized below:

Ore at both Sopka and Dalniy is free-milling. Extensive testwork by Polymetal and outside consultants confirmed conventional cyanidation recoveries of approximately 95% for gold and 90% for silver. Heap leach potential for lower-grade ore is currently being investigated by Polymetal.

In addition to the license areas, RK owns a substantial mining fleet as well as infrastructure at the Sopka mine site. Mining at Sopka is expected to commence in Q3 of 2009.

Polymetal's strategic rationale for the proposed Transaction is as follows.

• Acquiring a substantial source of high-grade feed for the existing Kubaka processing plant with the goal of establishing significant production at low capital and operating costs
• Furthering the business idea of turning the Kubaka mill into the regional processing hub with multiple feed sources and substantial technological flexibility. Polymetal expects that the addition of a new source of feed will improve the overall economics of the mill's operation
• Consolidating a portfolio of land holdings and unique transportation infrastructure in the east of the Magadan region with numerous highly prospective epithermal gold-silver ore occurrences (Polymetal owns Oroch and Prognozny licenses in the vicinity)

The Company envisions the following milestones for the Sopka assets:

• Producing JORC-compliant reserve report and detailed development plan for four assets which are intended to feed the Kubaka plant (Birkachan, Oroch, Sopka, Dalniy) - Q1 2010
• Restarting the Kubaka plant - Q3 2010
• Producing in excess of 100 Koz of gold equivalent from ore extracted from Sopka -  starting from 2011

"Purchase of Sopka and Dalniy represents an outstanding opportunity to capitalize on our vision of Kubaka development and capture huge synergies by avoiding the capital costs of stand-alone plant construction," said Vitaly Nesis, CEO of Polymetal. "This transaction fully meets the Company's acquisition criteria as it is expected to generate robust cash flows less than 18 months after the announcement and strengthen our strategic position in one of the key regions of our operations".

The Transaction has been approved by Polymetal's Board and is subject to inter alia FAS approval and shareholder approval for the issue of the consideration shares. The Transaction is expected to close in Q3 2009.

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This release includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements".  These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words "targets", "believes", "expects", "aims", "intends", "will", "may", "anticipates", "would", "could" or "should" or similar expressions or, in each case their negative or other variations or by discussion of strategies, plans, objectives, goals, future events or intentions.  These forward-looking statements all include matters that are not historical facts.  By their nature, such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors beyond the Company's control that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Company's present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.  Many factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this release.  The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom or the Russian Federation may be restricted by law and, therefore, any persons who are subject to the law of any jurisdiction other than the United Kingdom or the Russian Federation should inform themselves about, and observe, any applicable requirements. The information disclosed may not be the same as that which would have been prepared in accordance with the laws of jurisdictions outside England or the Russian Federation.

This announcement does not constitute an offer or invitation to purchase any securities.

Information in this document that relates to a Mineral Resource estimate prepared by AMC for the Sopka Kvartseveya gold-silver deposit in the Magadan Region of the Russian Federation is based on information compiled by Mr. Z Jakubiak, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a full-time employee of AMC Consultants. The information was provided by Auramine Resources plc which is responsible for its accuracy and completeness. Mr. Jakubiak has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves". Mr. Jakubiak has thoroughly checked the information in the estimate and has provided his written consent in the form and context in which it appears in this document.

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