Cost of Milkan iron ore project in Khabarovsk Territory estimated at 650 bln rubles
VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 5 (Interfax) - Milkan LLC plans to invest 650 billion rubles in the construction of a mine and processing plant at the Milkan iron ore deposit in Khabarovsk Territory, the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (FEDC) reported.
An agreement on the project was signed by FEDC CEO Nikolai Zapryagayev, Milkan CEO Dmitry Sherstnev and the first deputy chairman of the Khabarovsk regional government Sergei Abramov at the Eastern Economic Forum in the presence of Far East Development Minister Alexei Chekunkov and Khabarovsk Governor Dmitry Demeshin.
The project calls for registering the iron ore reserves with the government and building a mine and plant with capacity to process 54 million tonnes of ore per year in the Tuguro-Chumikan district, near the village of Chumikan.
A comprehensive exploration program is already underway to prepare a feasibility study, and calculate and book the reserves.
"The FEDC will provide comprehensive support for the project at all stages, and provide assistance in obtaining the status of a resident of the Khabarovsk priority development area (PDA) and the tax breaks and preferences provided by law. The issue of expanding the boundaries of the PDA to include the site of the future mine and plant within its perimeter is being worked out," Zapryagayev was quoted as saying.
Information about the owners of Moscow-based Milkan in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities is not available to the public, but the company was previously controlled by Albert Avdolyan, the beneficiary of the Elga coal project and PJSC Yatek .
Milkan, known as A-Stil at the time, secured the license to explore for and assess iron ore deposits at the Milkan and four other properties in 2022. All the properties are located next to one another in the Tuguro-Chumikan district. Ore reserves at the five properties were estimated at 5 billion tonnes at the time.
Logistics projects being built for the Elga coal project are located not far from the properties. They include a terminal on the Sea of Okhotsk with capacity to handle 30 million tonnes per year and a 500-km railway to it from the coal field on the border between Yakutia and Khabarovsk Territory.
