Uralkali hopes to secure approval of BKPRU-1 mine liquidation plan by year's end
MOSCOW. June 18 (Interfax) - The Federal Subsurface Resources Agency (Rosnedra) has extended Uralkali's license to the Berezniki section of the Verkhnekamskoye potassium and magnesium salt field in the Perm Territory, which expired on April 1, until the end of 2014, the Russian potash giant said in a statement.
Under the new terms of the license, Uralkali is supposed to ensure the agreement and approval of a project to liquidate the BKPRU-1 mine by December 31.
Uralkali said the project to liquidate the mine is undergoing an industrial safety review, the results of which the company will receive by July 1. It will then be submitted for approval to the Federal Environmental, Technological and Atomic Oversight Service (Rostekhnadzor) and Rosnedra. Uralkali expects to receive the approved report by January 1, 2014.
The BKPRU-1 mine has been deep-mining the Berezniki section since 1954. In October 2006, there was a sudden inflow of water and brine into the mine workings, threatening to flood the mine and deform the surface above. Work at the mine was suspended due to a dramatic increase in water inflow. In July 2007, a sinkhole formed near the mine, damaging railroad tracks near the station of Berezniki. In December 2009, Russian Railways (RZD) completed the Yaiva-Solikamsk 53-km rail line around the mined areas of the potassium and magnesium salt field.
Uralkali's board of directors decided in 2011 to close potash production and liquidate the chemical enrichment plant at the BKPRU-1 mine with capacity of 270,000 tonnes per year. Production at the plant was shut down in 2012.
