Last year, gold output in Russia, the world's No. 4 producer, rose 7 percent from 222 tonnes in 2011, Kashuba told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.

"Production may increase by about 5 percent (in 2013)," he said, adding it would be driven by the development of Polyus Gold's projects.

Polyus, Russia's largest gold miner, said last month it may increase its output of the metal by up to 7 percent this year thanks to further improvement in recovery rates and higher processing volumes.