JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Palladium and nickel miner Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel) has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Russian Platinum, in terms of which the companies will establish a joint venture (JV) to develop disseminated ore deposits in the Norilsk industrial district.
The 50:50 JV aims to be one of the world’s largest producers of platinum-group metals (PGMs) with a target production of 70 t/y to 100 t/y of PGMs, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
Nornickel will contribute its licence for the Maslovskoe deposit, while Russian Platinum will contribute its licences for the South flank of Norilsk-1 and Chernogorskoe deposits.
The three mining licences are located in close proximity one from another and thus have a major synergy potential in terms of geology and logistics, Russian Platinum president Musa Bazhaev commented in the statement.
Nornickel president Vladimir Potanin added that the initiative was in line with the group’s strategy of sharing the risks of major greenfield developments with partners. “We expect that upon its ramp-up, the project could become one of the world's leading PGM producers in terms of both size and profitability,” he added.
The JV is expected to be set up by the end of 2018, subject to internal corporate approvals and necessary regulatory approvals.
The investment approval of the project parameters and time-line will be made upon completion of a feasibility study that is scheduled by the end of 2019. The project's implementation is expected to start in 2020.
The project will be funded with a help of project financing and other financial instruments.