Mitsui and Sumitomo to Invest in Siberian Rare Earth Deposits

Feb. 14 – Mitsui & Co. and Sumitomo Corp. may invest in Siberian rare earth deposits, Sakha Yakutia Republic Governor Yegor Borisov said to reporters.

Japan´s second and third-biggest trading companies have held talks with regional officials about niobium and scandium resources in Yakutia, an area of northeastern Russia roughly the size of India.

In November, the Sakha Republic delegation headed by Yegor Borisov paid a visit to the Japanese business community and government officials, presenting the unique mining opportunities of the region, including rare earths. Read the rest of this entry »

Norilsk Nickel to Restart its Lake Johnston Nickel Ops in Australia

Dec. 7 – Russia’s Norilsk Nickel, the world’s top nickel and palladium producer, has said it will restart its idle Australian asset Lake Johnston, which mines sulphide ore and produces nickel concentrate.

The decision was announced during a business trip of the General Director of MMC Norilsk Nickel Vladimir Strzhalkovsky to the company’s Australian assets. Read the rest of this entry »

China to Invest in Russian Coal Producing Market

Oct. 26 – China will issue a US$6 billion credit line to Russian coal producers for the development of greenfield coal deposits, Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky stated on Monday.

“There will be a credit line opened and those companies that are interested in shipping coal to China … will reach an agreement,” Yanovsky said. Read the rest of this entry »

Alrosa to Hold an IPO Next Year

Oct. 6 – Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond-mining company, may hold an initial public offering next year that could value the company at between US$7.3 billion to US$9 billion, Vedomosti reports, citing an unidentified company official.

The company may only conduct an IPO after it is converted from a closed joint stock company into an open one, which will require amendments to legislation in Sakha Yakutia Republic in Russian North, where the company is based.

The Republican parliament Il Tumen may approve the necessary amendment during its session in Yakutsk city today. Read the rest of this entry »

Russia’s Gold Miners Want More Foreign Investors

Oct. 1 – Gold miners asked the Russian government to raise its threshold for strategic gold deposits to boost national reserves and production mining, executives said Thursday at the sixth Russia-CIS Mining and Exploration Forum 2010.

Fields with more than 50 metric tons of gold are considered strategic, requiring extra government approvals. The government should raise the 50 ton cap threshold fivefold from 50 tons to 250 tons, conference participants believe. Read the rest of this entry »

Canada’s Kinross to Buy Gold and Silver Deposits in Chukotka

Sept. 8 – Canada’s Kinross Gold Corporation has purchased one of Russia’s largest gold and silver ore deposits in the Chukotka region of the Russian Far East, company press release stated.

Kinross plans to process ore from the Dvoinoye deposit at the existing Kupol mill, pursuant to an ore purchase agreement with Kinross’ 75 percent owned Chukotka Mining and Geological Company. Read the rest of this entry »

Indian Iron-Ore Producer to Enter Russian Coal Market

Jul. 14 – Indian state-owned iron-ore producer, NMDC Ltd., is in negotiations to purchase four coal mines in Sakha-Yakutia from coal company Kolmar.

NMDC is Asia’s third-largest iron-ore producer while Kolmar is owned by the Onexim Group-affiliated mining and exploration company, Intergeo. Talks to buy the Kolmar mines, which have reserves of about 400 million metric tons, are likely to be completed by December, NMDC Finance Director Swaminathan Thiagarajan told Bloomberg. Read the rest of this entry »

Russia Sells Uranium Shares to Kazakhstan

Jul. 6 – Russia is selling 20 percent to 50 percent of its shares in the world’s largest uranium producer, Uralsk Electrochemical Industrial Complex (UEIC), to Kazakhstan in exchange for raw materials for the state-owned company.

The deal was formalized and signed on Monday by the Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom and the Kazakhstani national atomic company Kazatomprom. Almost 50 percent of all Russian uranium is enriched by the Rosatom-controlled UEIC. According to a Rosatom official, Kazakhstan is interested in a 30 percent stake at UEIC that will allow them to enrich around 6,000 tons of uranium annually. “Rosatom very much interesting in Kazakhstani uranium mining companies.” Read the rest of this entry »

Chinese Companies Look to Fund Russian Mining Railroad

May 31 – China Railway Materials Commercial Corp. and SUYU Railroad Material Co. could get involved in funding a railroad branch line to be constructed to the Ozernoye mining site in the Buryat Republic of Russia.

Conditions of the financing agreement state that the owner of the deposit IFC Metropol will buy construction equipment, railroad cars and locomotives from China. Chinese rail accessories and rolling stocks are several times cheaper than their domestic counterparts, but certificate barriers have prevented Russians from purchasing these in the past. Metropol may now become the very first to bring Chinese manufactured technical equipment to the Russian market, but experts believe that it would be hard to break state resistance. Read the rest of this entry »

Russia Gold Producer Polimetall Rakes in First Profit in Three Years

May 11 – Leading Russian gold and silver producer Polimetall has registered profits for the first time in three years, announcing a US$96 million net income in 2009.

The company’s growth has been brought around by favorable gold prices. According the company’s press release, the company made US$96 million net income in 2009 compared to a loss of US$15.7 billion in 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

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