Nornickel Restores Mining at Oktyabrsky Mine to Full Capacity
MOSCOW, May 14, 2021 (Newswire.com) - Nornickel, the world's largest producer of palladium and high-grade nickel and a major producer of platinum and copper, has restored the copper-nickel ore mining at the Oktyabrsky mine back to its full capacity of 14,100 tonnes per day. Operation of the mine's two shafts is now fully restored, Nornickel, headed by Vladimir Potanin, has confirmed.
This follows a complete water remediation program to prevent the high water inflow which forced the miner to suspend operations at its Oktyabrsky and Taimyrsky mines located in Russia's Far North in late February of this year.
"Water pumping from the horizons of the Oktyabrsky mine has been completed. Ore extraction and operation of its two shafts has been restored and the mine is now operating at its design capacity. Pumping out the floodwater from the Taimyrsky mine as well as fixing mine workings back to a safe condition are progressing on track with the earlier announced recovery schedule. By June 1st, we are planning to gradually restart ore mining operations at Taimyrsky," said Nikolay Utkin, Senior Vice President and Head of the Norilsk Division.
The Taimyrsky mine, which has also been temporarily suspended due to the flooding, is on track to resume operations. Nornickel plans a gradual restart of mining at Taimyrsky on June 1, following the completion of water pumping. The two mines form one of Nornickel's two main production hubs on the Taimyr Peninsula.
No casualties were reported as a result of the water inflow, as the Company swiftly halted the mining operations at its two mines in full accordance with its safety protocols and in an abundance of caution.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
MMC Norilsk Nickel is a diversified mining and metallurgical company, the world's largest producer of palladium and high-grade nickel, and a major producer of platinum and copper. The company also produces cobalt, rhodium, silver, gold, iridium, ruthenium, selenium, tellurium, sulphur and other products.
The production units of Norilsk Nickel Group are located at the Norilsk Industrial District, on the Kola Peninsula and Zabaykalsky Krai in Russia as well as in Finland and South Africa.
MMC Norilsk Nickel shares are listed on the Moscow and on the Saint-Petersburg Stock Exchanges, ADRs are traded over the counter in the US and on the London, Berlin and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges.
Source: MMC Norilsk Nickel