Major Investment Projects

Operator/initiator: NordGold

Project stage: Pre-project work is under way

Timeframe: No timeframe has been set

Investments: ₽25 billion

In September 2022, Nordgold, the government of Zabaikalye and the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (FEDC) signed a trilateral agreement to develop the Uryakh-Bakhtarnak prospective area cluster. The company then announced investments in the project – about ₽25 billion.
Uryakh is a promising ore area with gold resources suitable for open pit mining and significant potential to increase the mineral resource base. As of 2021, the deposit’s reserves were estimated at 21 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 3.5 g/t gold (73.5 tonnes)
The Bakhtarnak prospective area is located 35 kilometres north-east of the Nelyaty settlement in Kalarsky district. Inferred resources P1 – 10 tonnes of ore gold, P2 – 14 tonnes, P3 – 50 tonnes.
Nordgold intends to mine up to 3 tonnes of gold at Uryakh.

Operator/initiator: Baimskaya MC

Project stage: Realisation

Timeframe: 2024-2027

Investments: $8.5 billion

The development of deposits in the Baimskaya ore area involves the construction of a mining and processing plant (MPP) and all necessary infrastructure. The mine will use advanced direct flotation technologies. All necessary infrastructure will be built for efficient sales of Baimsky GOK products, including a year-round port terminal and a 428 km all-weather road between the deposit and a new port for shipping products to market via the Northern Sea Route. The mine is expected to be operational by the end of 2027, with a life of mine of more than 20 years, with average annual copper production of 300 kt and gold production of 490 ko z during the first ten full y ears of operation.

Operator/initiator: Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Rosatom, Seligdar PJSC and the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Project stage: All drilling operations are completed

Timeframe: 2021-2028

Investments: ₽272 billion

An agreement on intentions of co-operation in the realisation of projects of the Kyuchus industrial cluster was concluded between the Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, the government of the republic, Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation and Seligdar PJSC.
The parties intend to work out an optimal solution to establish a preferential regime with the use of state support measures for the realisation of Kyuchus cluster projects aimed at creating new plants and accelerated economic development of remote areas. The cluster’s power centre will be a low-power nuclear power plant (SPNP) in the Ust-Yansky district
Total balance reserves of gold amount to 175 tonnes and tin – 324,000 tonnes. The deposits are scheduled to reach their design capacity in 2026-2030. The production volume is 10 tonnes of gold and 5,000 tonnes of tin annually.

Operator/initiator: Udokan Copper

Project stage: Preparation for commissioning of the hydrometallurgical plant, design of the phase II of Udokan MMC

Timeframe: 2019-2028

Investments: $6.9 billion

Udokan is the largest undeveloped copper deposit in Russia and one of the lar gest in the world. The first phase of Udokan’s processing capacity will be up to 15 million tonnes of ore, producing up to 135,000 tonnes of copper per year. Taking into account the second phase, the volume of processing will increase to 40 million tonnes of ore per year. The cost of the first phase of Udokan development was estimated at $2.9 billion, while the cost of the second stage – $4 billion. The final products of the Udokan mining and metallurgical combine will be copper cathode and sulphide concentrate.
The first phase of the plant will produce 135,000 tonnes of copper per year. A flotation and hydrometallurgical process scheme was adopted for processing ores from the Udokan deposit.

Operator/initiator: Chernogorsk MC

Project stage: Construction

Timeframe: 2024-2030

Investments: ₽240 billion

The Krasnoyarsk region is realising an investment project to establish a large mining cluster in the Norilsk industrial district based on the Chernogorskoye deposit and the southern part of the Norilsk-1 deposit. The design capacity of the first phase is designed to produce 7 million tonnes of ore per year, with the capacity to increase to 14 million tonnes after the second phase is commissioned. 1,600 jobs will be generated, the regional government said.
Currently, the work is proceeding as planned: the construction of an open pit, concentrator, CHPP and necessary infrastructure is underway, and the main process equipment has been replaced with samples manufactured in Russia and friendly countries. the full launch of the Chernogorsko ye deposit is planned by 2024, while the second phase with the commissioning of Norilsk-1 is scheduled for 2030.

Operator/initiator: Kun-Manye

Project stage: Agreement is concluded

Timeframe: 2024-2028

Investments: ₽114.2 billion

The deposit is located on the border of the Amur region and Khabarovsk Territory. The Company plans to build an ore processing plant with a production capacity of 7 million tonnes of ore per year and concentrate production. It is planned to carry out the additional exploration and complete technological studies at the site by the end of 2024. The planned star t-up date is 2028. The payback period of the project is 12 years. Total revenues to the consolidated budget and extra-budgetary funds from 2024 to 2043 will amount to ₽108.7 billion. The B+C1 category reserves of the facility amount to 144.2 million tonnes of ore containing 1.1 million tonnes of nickel and 304,000 tonnes of copper.