The decision to develop the Voronezh nickel mines will be taken by 2016

The development of Voronezh mines - nickel deposits "Elanskoye" and "Elkinskoe" - "UMMC" will begin only if the profitability of production. This was in his conversation with reporters told the company's head - Andrei Kozitsyn. According to him, the company's management will consider investing in the project (which is about 70 billion rubles) expedient only if the reserves of nickel are confirmed at sites in sizes not less than 0.5 million tons in categories C1-C2. "We plan to conduct additional exploration of deposits, and this will take several years. Therefore, the final decision regarding the start of Voronezh nickel production is possible only by 2016, "the head of the organization told the press.

The second important criterion that can influence the decision on this issue, Mr. Kozitsyn, is the cost of metal: "If the price of nickel falls below $ 15,000 per tonne, it will be pointless to engage in deposits (even if there are a lot of resources)," he.

It should be recalled that the owner of the license to extract minerals from the Elanskoye and Elkinskoye deposits was the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (in accordance with the decision of the competitive commission Rosnedra) in the spring of this year. According to preliminary forecasts (Р1-Р2), indicated in the official documents of the tender, in the bowels of these sections there are from 50 to 350 thousand tons of nickel.