Russian diamond miner Alrosa launches Mir deep mine restoration
YAKUTSK. Sept 4 (Interfax) - Alrosa has launched the project to restore the Mir diamond mine, the press office of the internal Russian republic of Yakutia's government said, quoting the republic's leader, Aysen Nikolayev.
The project involves building a new underground mine, Mir-Gluboky, at the Mir diamond deposit, which flooded in August 2017, when water from the depleted open-pit mine above it broke through. There were 151 people in the flood zone and eight of them died. Mine workings and equipment were completely destroyed, and two horizons were flooded.
"Alrosa has started construction of facilities at Mir-Gluboky. The head of Yakutia was briefed on this on Monday during his working visit to the Mirny district," the press office said.
The company aims to start preparatory work and plan the construction sites year.
Investment in the project will be 121.5 billion rubles, said Pavel Marinychev, Alrosa CEO.
"Total diamond reserves are 173.5 million carats. Diamond mining is expected to start in 2032 with the first sales in 2033. The mine will produce 2 million tonnes of ore and 3 million carats of diamonds annually for more than 30 years," Marinychev said.
The head of Yakutia said the investment project was very extensive and complex "from a technical point of view." "While it was being drafted an assessment of diamond reserves was carried out at the deep horizons of the deposit, which showed that it was economically feasible to build a new mine," Nikolayev said.
Mir produced 3.19 million carats of diamonds in 2016, when it reached design capacity.
Reports have said Alrosa planned to launch the Mir restoration project in 2033. Also, Yakutia proposed concluding a capital investment protection and promotion agreement for the mine to reduce the risk of a long investment period for the duration of the project's 20-year implementation, Nikolayev has said.
The ore of the Mir deposit has a high content of high quality diamonds, and before the flood the mine accounted for more than 10% of the Alrosa Group's production.