Operations at Vein 25 in Asacha's East Zone can restart following permitting approval from the Russian government's Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision (RTN).

A rockfall that occurred at the mine on 6 January resulted in two fatalities, a further three employees involved in the accident were safely rescued from the mine.

Although operations can resume, the RTN investigation is ongoing and the company expects to receive the outcomes by the end of March.

"We are pleased to have received approvals to safely resume mining operations at the Asacha Gold Mine. We continue to support the families affected by the accident, work closely with RTN and implement continuous improvements at our mine site," said Alexander Dorogov, chief executive.

The company added that during the East Zone suspension, the Main Zone at the Asacha Gold Mine was operational and has provided sufficient feed ore for the processing plant to run at full capacity, with approximately 5,122 oz of gold doré produced.

The company expects average gold grades to "significantly" improve now that Vein 25 is operational again.