World #1 nickel and palladium producer Norilsk Nickel is investing heavily in new and existing mines.
The Russian mining conglomerate announced today it will spend US$10.9 billion to expand its mineral resource base including development of existing mining assets and construction and commissioning of new mines.
It will also spend $US632 million to explore the Norilsk and Murmansk regions until 2025.
Reserves will grow substantially over the next 13 years, Norilsk states in a press release:
Total expected reserves growth across all ore types in Norilsk Industrial Region with exploration works until 2025 taken into account will total 670 million tons, including Ni – 4.87 mln tons, Cu – 9.46 mln tons and PGM – 5.08 thousand tons.
By 2025 the expected growth of ore reserves in Kola Peninsula will reach 70 million tons including Ni – 0.75 mln tons and Cu – 0,34 mln tons.
Norilsk Nickel is the largest diversified mining and metals company in Russia, the world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium and one of the world’s largest producers of platinum, rhodium, copper and cobalt. The company also produces a large number of by-products, including gold, silver, tellurium, selenium, iridium and ruthenium.
The key production units in Russia are on the Polar and Kola Peninsulas and it also operates mines in Finland, Australia, Botswana and South Africa.
