Mining projects

The Skalisty Mine forms part of Nornickel’s Polar Division and produces ore from the Talnakhskoye and Oktyabrskoye deposits. In 2019, the mine extracted 2.3 mln t of rich ore and 88 kt of copper ore.

Location

Norilsk Industrial District, Krasnoyarsk Region

Project overview

The Skalisty Mine development project aims to ramp up ore production to 2.5 Mtpa by 2020, and maintain this level until 2025 through mining the rich and cuprous ore reserves of the Talnakhskoye and Oktyabrskoye deposits. In 2020–2025, the project’s CAPEX will total RUB 58.3 bn (USD 0.85 bn).

Ore reservesAccording to JORC standards.

53 mln t

Average metal content

NI – 3.2%

Cu – 3.7%

PGMs – 10.0 g/t

Project timeline

'19

CAPEX – RUB 3.7 bn (USD 58 mln)
Refurbishment of ventilation shaft No. 10 completed, and the main ventilation unit launched
The sinking of skip-cage shaft No. 1 completed (2.1 km in total)

'20

Commissioning of ventilation shaft No. 10
Commissioning 400 ktpa of saleable ore capacity

Taimyrsky Mine

Taimyrsky Mine forms part of Nornickel’s Polar Division and produces ore from the Oktyabrskoye Deposit. In 2019, the mine extracted about 4.1 mln t of rich ore.

Location

Norilsk Industrial District, Krasnoyarsk Region

Project overview

The Taimyrsky Mine development project aims to sustain ore production at 4.3 Mtpa until 2025 by tapping into the rich copper-nickel ore reserves of the Oktyabrskoye deposit. In 2020–2024, the project’s CAPEX will total RUB 32.8 bn (USD 491.6 mln).

Ore reservesAccording to JORC standards.

139 mln t

Average metal content

NI – 1.2%

Cu –1.9%

PGMs – 4.5 g/t

Project timeline

'19

CAPEX – RUB 4.3 bn (USD 67 mln)
5.6 km of underground workings completed

'20-'24

Commissioning 1.15 Mtpa of capacity to maintain ore production at 4.3 Mtpa

Oktyabrsky Mine

Oktyabrsky Mine forms part of Nornickel’s Polar Division and produces ore from the Oktyabrskoye Deposit. In 2019, the mine extracted 5.4 mln t of ore.

Location

Norilsk Industrial District, Krasnoyarsk Region

Project overview

The Oktyabrsky Mine development project aims to maintain production of depleting reserves, and gradually ramp up production to 6.0 Mtpa until 2025, through mining 38.5 mln t of the rich disseminated and cuprous ore reserves of the Oktyabrskoye deposit. In 2020–2025, the project’s CAPEX will total RUB 3.8 bn (USD 56.1 mln).

Ore reservesAccording to JORC standards.

215 mln t

Average metal content

NI — 0.6 %

Cu — 2.1 %

PGMs — 5.8 g/t

Project timeline

'19

CAPEX – RUB 1.7 bn (USD 27 mln)
2.6 km of underground workings completed

'20-'25

Commissioning 300 Ktpa cuprous ore and 1.15 Mtpa ore capacity to maintain production reserves

Komsomolsky Mine

The Komsomolsky Mine forms part of Nornickel’s Polar Division and produces ore from the Talnakhskoye and Oktyabrskoye deposits. In 2019, the mine extracted 4.0 mln t of ore.

Location

Norilsk Industrial District, Krasnoyarsk Territory (Polar Division)

Project overview

The Komsomolsky Mine development project aims to maintain ore production at 4 Mtpa until 2023, by mining the rich, cuprous, and disseminated ore reserves of the Talnakhskoye and Oktyabrskoye deposits. In 2020–2023, the project’s CAPEX will total RUB 13.7 bn (USD 204.5 mln).

Ore reservesAccording to JORC standards.

182 mln t

Average metal content

NI – 0.6%

Cu – 1.1%

PGMs – 4.8 g/t

Project timeline

'19

CAPEX – RUB 3.5 bn (USD 54 mln)
4.5 km of underground workings completed

'20-'23

Commissioning 1.5 Mtpa of saleable ore capacity

South Cluster

In 2017, Nornickel established Medvezhy Ruchey, a wholly-owned subsidiary that operates the assets of the South Cluster. The South Cluster comprises the Norilsk Concentrator (processing capacity of 9.3 Mtpa), the northern part of the Norilsk-1 deposit, developed by the Zapolyarny open-pit mine and the Zapolyarnaya mine, as well as the tailing dump No. 1 and Lebyazhye tailing dump. The Norilsk Concentrator processes all disseminated ores from the Zapolyarny Mine and cuprous and disseminated ores from the Oktyabrskoye and Talnakhskoye deposits. In 2019, the plant processed 7.5 mln t of ore, with nickel recovery in bulk concentrate reaching 71.3%. In 2019, the Zapolyarny Mine produced 1.6 mln t of disseminated ore. In 2019, the South Cluster project’s CAPEX was RUB 5.0 bn (USD 76 mln).

Location

Norilsk Industrial District, Krasnoyarsk Region

Project overview

The project aims to ramp up ore production to 9 Mtpa by 2027, first by expanding the pit (open-pit operations) and then through underground mining. In 2020–2027, the project’s CAPEX will total RUB 63.1 bn (USD 0.9 bn).

Ore reservesAccording to JORC standards.

42 mln t

Average metal content

NI – 0.3%

Cu – 0.4%

PGMs – 6.0 g/t

Project timeline

'19

CAPEX – RUB 1.6 bn (USD 24 mln)
Stripping completed
Exploration conducted
Design documentation development started

'20

Feasibility study and detailed engineering conducted
Completion of design documentation
Securing of approval from the Main Department of State Expertise
Launch of construction and installation works

'21-'22

Construction and installation works, equipment delivery
Launch of ore production

Arctic Palladium

In 2018, Nornickel and Russian Platinum, a Russian private company, signed a memorandum of intent to set up a joint venture (JV) with a view to develop the Norilsk Industrial District’s deposits. Contributions to the JV’s authorised capital included Nornickel’s licence to develop the Maslovskoye deposit and Russian Platinum’s licence to develop the southern part of the Norilsk-1 deposit and the Chernogorskoye deposit.

In March 2020, Russian Platinum has notified the Company of its decision to terminate the negotiations regarding Arctic Palladium JV and to proceed with the development of the Chernogorskoye Deposit and the southern part of the Norilsk-1 Deposit on its own. This decision owes to UC RUSAL, one of Nornickel's shareholders, not issuing due corporate approvals to Nornickel to participate in the proposed joint venture.