Evraz to invest 6.4 bln rubles in stage one of Kachkanar-proper ore deposit
MOSCOW. May 27 (Interfax) - Evraz plc will invest 6.4 billion rubles in stage one of the project to develop the Kachkanar-proper (Sobstvennogo-Kachkanarskoye) titanium magnetite vanadium-containing ore deposit in the Sverdlovsk region.
Evraz said in a press release that it had started stripping the deposit and that commercial ore production was expected to begin in Q1 2021. The project is on the list of strategically important investment projects in Sverdlovsk Region. The deposit will be developed in a single open pit. By 2024, annual ore production is expected to reach 13 million tonnes.
The Kachkanar-proper deposit is located on the slopes of the Kachkanar Mountain, 5 kilometers from the Gusevogorskoye deposit. The total reserves of ferrous titanium-magnetite ores are estimated now at 6.87 billion tonnes, with an average iron content of 16.6%. Based on the company's annual consumption of 60 million tonnes, the deposit may last for over 100 years.
The first tonnes of ore at the Kachkanar-proper deposit are scheduled for production in 2020, with commercial shipments to begin in January 2021. The Gusevogorskoye deposit is close to depletion and its output will be going down, to an estimated 40 million tonnes a year by 2030, Evraz said.
"Once completed, Stage One of the project will enable Evraz KGOK to maintain its annual ore production at 59 million tonnes, with the Kachkanar-proper deposit securing 22% of the total output by 2024," said Denis Novozhonov, Evraz Vice-president and Head of the Urals Division. "It will guarantee a stable workload for Evraz NTMK, another major industrial player of the region," he said.