Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Nornickel has resumed ore mining at the second of its two mines hit by flooding this year.
The world’s largest palladium producer and a leading nickel partially suspended output at the Oktyabrsky mine and the interconnected Taymirskiy operation on February 24 after subterranean water flowing into one of them, first detected on February 12, intensified.
The water was stopped thanks to the installations of barriers and after the company poured 32,000 tonnes of concrete into the mines.
The flooding at the sites, which account for 36% of the ore mined by the company in Russia, prompted a reduction to Nornickel’s 2021 output forecast in February.
The Taimyrsky underground mine is currently running at 40% of its capacity and is on track to return to full capacity by the end of June, Nornickel said on Friday.
The company’s Oktyabrsky mine resumed full operations in May.
The inflows are just one of the issues it has had to deal with this year.
The miner was recently ordered to pay about $2 billion in compensation after a massive diesel spill from one of its fuel tanks in the Arctic last year.
A few days later, three people were killed when a roof of the ore reloading facility and adjoining walkway at the Norislk concentrator plant collapsed during repairs. The facility processes ore from several operations, including from the water-affected mines.
(With files from Reuters)
