* Polyus, Polymetal eye 15 percent output growth in 2010
* Highland Gold launches new mine
* Executives forecast record gold price
By Polina Devitt and Robin Paxton
MOSCOW, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Gold miners in Russia, the world's No. 5 producer, on Thursday unveiled plans to increase output by launching new mines in Siberia and forecast the metal's value would soon reach uncharted highs above $1,030 an ounce.
Leading miners Polyus Gold and Polymetal plan to raise output by 15 percent next year, company executives said, while Highland Gold Mining launched its second mine as it pursues plans to double production within five years.
Gold's safe-haven appeal to investors has protected it from a demand slump that has slashed industrial metal prices, while the financial slowdown has allowed several firms to buy up deposits at knockdown prices.
"We used the crisis as a window of opportunity to pursue acquisitions and, as a result, we agreed on four deals in the first half of this year," Vitaly Nesis, chief executive of Polymetal, told Reuters television in an interview.
Russia, which ranks between Australia and Peru in terms of output, last year reversed five straight years of decline when it boosted output by 13 percent. With reserves second only to South Africa's, it has the potential to grow much further.
Production reached 126.42 tonnes, or 4.1 million ounces, in the first eight months of 2009, industry lobby the Russian Gold Industrialists' Union said. This was 18.5 percent more than in the same period last year.
The metal is trading above $1,000 an ounce and last month came close to exceeding the record-high of $1,030.80 set in March 2008. Executives on Thursday forecast the price would soon breach this threshold as investors shun the U.S. dollar. "I'm expecting something like $1,200 by the end of the year," Pavel Maslovsky, chief executive and co-founder of Petropavlovsk Plc, told Reuters.
Nesis said he expected prices to be flat in a range of $1,000 to $1,050 an ounce to the end of this year, before breaking higher in the first quarter of 2010.
"The dominance of the dollar as the world reserve currency is starting to decline and gold will be its natural descendant," said the Polymetal chief executive.
"Over three to five years, I believe both gold and silver will show very significant price increases. I wouldn't rule out doubling the prices in three years."
NEW MINES
Much of this year's increase in gold output is attributable to the Kupol mine in the remote northeastern region of Chukotka, majority owned by Canada's Kinross Gold Corp.
Polyus Gold, Russia's largest producer, will launch its $400 million Blagodatnoye mine next year in a step that will boost production to 1.5 million ounces in 2010 from the 1.3 million ounces forecast this year.
"We will start serious growth in volumes with the launch of this project in summer 2010," said German Pikhoya, deputy chief executive for strategy and corporate development at Polyus. He said output would soar to 2.9 million ounces by 2014.
Nesis said Polymetal forecast an increase of between 15 percent and 20 percent in gold equivalent ounces for its gold and silver production next year.
Highland Gold, whose shareholders include billionaire Roman Abramovich and Canada's Barrick Gold Corp, launched its second Russian mine, Novoshirokinskoye, on Thursday.
Highland Chief Executive Valery Oif told Reuters the company planned within five years to double production to 10 tonnes (322,000 ounces) from about 5 tonnes today, and was planning an acquisition by the end of this year.
Petropavlovsk, formerly known as Peter Hambro Mining, says it is on track to produce 500,000 ounces in 2009 and that a new deposit, Albyn, could start contributing to production by 2012 and add 205,000 ounces annually when it reaches full capacity. To see a recent FEATURE on Russian gold mining, double-click on . (Additional reporting by Kiryl Sukhotski, writing by Robin Paxton; editing by Sue Thomas)