RMK investment in Mikheyevsky copper mine reaches 12.5 bln rubles
CHELYABINSK. Nov 28 (Interfax) - Russkaya Mednaya Kompaniya (Russian Copper Company, RMK) has spent more than 50% of the planned amount of investment in the construction of the Mikheyevsky copper mine and processing plant in the Chelyabinsk Region, Governor Mikhail Yurevich said after a visit to the complex on Tuesday.
"More than 12.5 billion rubles has now been invested in the mine and processing plant. Almost all the equipment has arrived at the mine and plant, its installation has begun, construction of the foundations for the main production facilities is being completed. Overall investment amounts to more than 24 billion rubles. For Chelyabinsk Region this is a very large amount," the governor's press service quoted Yurevich as saying.
He said that the processing plant is scheduled to be launched in September 2013 and it is expected to reach design capacity in 18 months.
RMK is continuing exploration of the area and is considering opening another small open-pit mine with anticipated capacity of 2 million-3 million tonnes of ore per year.
The regional authorities plan to provide support to RMK in resolving infrastructure difficulties arising in the course of the construction of Mikheyevsky.
"Federal Grid Company (FGC) is behind schedule in delivering electricity. They planned to run a new line to Kartaly, RMK was supposed to run a power line from there. The investor did his part. The issue of gas delivery has also not been resolved yet. But I think that we'll manage to solve it. We can reach an agreement with Gazprom or Novatek in order to cut into the trunk gas pipeline that passes nearby," Yurevich said.
He also said that a lime roasting plant might be built next to Mikheyevsky. "The copper recovery technology requires roasted lime. This is a separate business. There are three deposits nearby. RMK can tackle this issue itself or it can propose it to investors. It is possible to acquire a deposit and build a plant for 15 million-30 million rubles," the governor said.
He also said that meetings with the management of two cement companies were held during a recent business visit to Germany. "They or someone else could become investors in production of clinker, a key part of cement. There is very strong demand for it in our region," Yurevich said.
The project to develop the Mikheyevskoye porphyry copper deposit and build a mine and processing plant includes construction of an open-pit mine with capacity of up to 18 million tonnes of ore per year, a plant to produce copper concentrate, as well as auxiliary and external infrastructure. The mine and plant are scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of 2013. The company estimated the cost of the project at over $780 million.
The Mikheyevskoye deposit is one of Russia's largest and has been included by international consulting group CRU among the world's 50 largest copper deposits.
RMK, one of Russia's top three copper producers, controls 14% of the copper cathode market and 24% of the country's copper ore reserves.