The Russian mining giant Mechel is considering resuming the operation of its nickel asset Yuzhuralnickel, which was mothballed in 2012 due to low metal prices.
In 2020, the Yuzhuralnickel plant, owned by Mechel, carried out a geological additional study of the third section of the Buruktalskoye deposit in the Orenburg region, according to the report of the Ministry of Natural Resources “On the state and use of mineral resources of the Russian Federation in 2020” published on December 22.
Yuzhuralnickel was shut down and mothballed in 2012 due to low market prices for its products. The capacity before the shutdown was 17,000 tons of nickel per year, 80% of the production was exported. It has its own raw material base - Sakharinsky and Buruktalsky mines. As representatives of Mechel told in an interview with the Russian Kommersant business paper, the work is being carried out by Yuzhuralnickel employees in cooperation with a federal research institute.
A spokesman of the company comments:
“Now we are at the stage of finalizing and improving the proposed technical and economic solutions. So far, it is too early to talk about the specific timing of the implementation of this project».
By: Eugene Gerden