Copper supply risks ease as Chile miners do deals
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Russian mining giant Nornickel said on Monday it was examining the implications of new US sanctions on its subsidiaries, which are not involved in the company’s production and sales.
On Aug. 23, the United States imposed sanctions on several Nornickel subsidiaries as well as on the Bystrinsky copper and gold project, which Nornickel controls.
These companies were listed among 400 entities and individuals “whose products and services enable Russia to sustain its war effort and evade sanctions,” according to the US Treasury Department.
“The group’s production and sales companies (PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel, its Polar Division and subsidiaries, Kola MMC and its subsidiaries) were not included in the US sanctions list dated August 23, 2024,” the company said in a statement.
“A number of the group’s service companies were included in the sanctions list. The company’s management is assessing the impact of the imposed sanctions,” it added.
Nornickel, the world’s largest producer of palladium and a major producer of high-grade nickel, is not subject to direct Western sanctions.
However, sanctions against Moscow prompted some Western producers to avoid buying Russian metal and complicated payments, prompting Nornickel to redirect sales to Asia and to try to transfer some final stages of its production out of the country.
In its statement, the company did not mention the sanctions against the Bystrinsky plant, in which Nornickel indirectly owns 50.01%.
According to the latest available data at the end of 2023, Bystrinsky’s other shareholders included Nornickel’s major shareholder Interros Holding with 36.66% and a subsidiary of a Chinese private equity firm Hopu with another 13.33%.
The remote project, located in Russia’s Far East, includes gold, copper and iron ore deposits as well as a processing plant. The products are mainly supplied to China.
(By Anastasia Lyrchikova; Editing by Gleb Bryanski and Mark Potter)
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