Raspadskaya to invest 11 bln rubles in coal mining complex at Mezhegeiskoye deposit

KEMEROVO. Oct 24 (Interfax) - Russian coal miner Raspadskaya will invest 11 billion rubles in the construction of a mining complex at the Mezhegeiskoye deposit in the Ulug-Khemsky coal basin in Tuva, according to the strategy for the social and economic development of the Siberia Federal District to 2035.

The project will be executed by the government of Tuva and Mezhegeiugol Management Company LLC, a division of PJSC Raspadskaya .

The project will be carried out in 2024, the strategy indicated. Raspadskaya declined to comment on the project and its parameters.

Raspadskaya reported earlier that Mezhegeiugol mined 558,000 tonnes of coal in 2022. Mezhegeiugol's mine resumed production in March 2022 after a two-year suspension due to a lack of demand for its coal.

Raspadskaya's senior management said in August 2023 that coal production this year "will not differ much from 2022," when the company produced almost 22 million tonnes. It also said the goal of producing 30 million tonnes would be pushed back from 2025 to the long-term future, and the means of achieving this target might now include mergers and acquisitions. Raspadskaya planned capital expenditures of $280 million in 2023.

Mezhegeiugol also holds the license to the Vostochny property in the Western part of the

Ulug-Khemsky coal basin, which was suspended due to delays in the construction of the Kyzyl-Kuragino railway. Production capacity at the Mezhegeiskoye deposit is 1 million tonnes of Zh rank coking coal per year. JORC compliant proven and probable reserves of Zh rank coking coal were estimated at 86 million tonnes as of the end of 2022.