Severstal, Evraz bidding for additional Tuva coal section
MOSCOW. Aug 18 (Interfax) - Subsidiaries of Severstal and Evraz Group have bid at a tender for the exploration and mining rights to an additional section of Western section of the Ulug-Khemsky coal basin in the republic of Tuva.
The Russian Federal Subsurface Resources Agency (Rosnedra) told Interfax that Severstal's LLC UglekhemUgol and Evraz Group's LLC Mezhegeiugol were bidding for the Vostochny (Eastern) section of the property.
The same companies plus Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) ate bidding at a separate tender for the Tsentralny (Central) section of the Zapadnaya property.
Rosnedra will hold the Vostochny tender on October 20. Coal reserves have not been counted, but VNIGRIugol, the national R&D institute for coal exploration, estimates it contains C1 reserves of 107.72 million tonnes and C2 - 461.28 million tonnes, plus off-balance C2 reserves of 105.41 million tonnes.
The starting price for the license is 419 million rubles. The license duration was not specified.
The deadline for bid applications was August 13.
The tender for the Tsentralnaya section is scheduled for September 21. This contains estimated C1 reserves - 283.4 million tonnes and C2 - 355.6 million tonnes.