https://www.miningweekly.com
Aluminium|Platinum|PROJECT
Aluminium|Platinum|PROJECT
aluminium|platinum|project

As coronavirus rages, Rusal puts brakes on Nornickel's palladium JV

20th March 2020

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

MOSCOW – Russia's Norilsk Nickel said on Friday that Russian Platinum, its partner in an Arctic palladium project, had withdrawn from talks on creating the joint venture due to a lack of approval from Rusal, one of Nornickel's shareholders.

Nornickel is the world's largest producer of palladium, which along with its sister metal, platinum, has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and its expected economic fallout. Palladium has plunged by 45% from February highs as some investors dumped the precious metal for cash.

Aluminium producer Rusal, which holds 27.8% in Nornickel, has not issued corporate approvals for the miner to participate in the joint venture, Nornickel said in a statement.

Rusal did not reply to a Reuters' request for comment.

Nornickel and Russian Platinum, backed by Russian businessman Musa Bazhaev, were preparing the project with President Vladimir Putin's support. It was expected to require $2.8-billion to $3.2-billion by 2024.

"In spite of the current and, we hope, temporary turbulence in the commodity markets, we maintain a very positive view on palladium fundamentals, which should remain strong in a strategic perspective," Sergey Dubovitsky, Nornickel's vice president for strategy, said in the statement.

"Being a responsible palladium producer and the market leader we intend to develop a long-term operating and commercial partnership with Russian Platinum," he added.

Russian Platinum will proceed with the development of its two Siberian deposits - the Chernogorskoye and the southern part of the Norilsk-1 - on its own, but Nornickel will consider measures to support Russian Platinum's project and its potential partners, Nornickel said.

Investors from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were previously interested in the project.

The support may include an off-take of produce from the two Siberian deposits, Nornickel said, adding such cooperation should still help to bring more metal to "the market running a structural deficit."

Russian Platinum confirmed it had withdrawn from the project. It plans to maintain long-term cooperation with Nornickel, it told Reuters.

Nornickel is investing heavily in increasing its output, with capital spending, excluding the palladium project, expected to peak in 2022-2025.

Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer outside China, relies on Nornickel's dividend payments in tough years and has come through a number of shareholder rows on this issue with Vladimir Potanin, Nornickel's co-owner.

These dividend payments may become more important for Rusal, as it recently posted a quarterly loss and warned the coronavirus could hit global demand for aluminium.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

Projects

Showroom

Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.07 0.106s - 89pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now