Norilsk Nickel to spend US$ 20 billion at polar projects

Norilsk Nickel’s polar division will spend US$ 20 billion by 2030 to stop production from falling, according to its head Evgeny Muravyov. As the ore at current mines yields less metal, the company must invest in new projects to fight back falling output. The division must raise ore output by about 3% a year to keep nickel production flat, Muravyov said.

The polar business accounts for about 80% Norilsk Nickel’s profit since the company has been privatized in 1997, and fueled its expansion abroad. More than US$ 200 billion of nickel, copper, palladium and platinum were mined at the Siberian area since 1935, when prisoners of Josef Stalin’s labor camps began production there. It does produce 22% of the world’s nickel and 40% of the world’s palladium.

Norilsk’s deposits are singular because nickel, copper, palladium and platinum can be extracted from the same ore, which is mined from as deep as 1.3 kilometers below ground, and the mines have a total of 1,200 kilometers of underground tunnels.