State evaluators approve new Taymyr coal project
The development of the Syradasaysky coal field and sea terminal gets go-ahead from the Russian Glavgosexpertiza.
Coal digging at the Syradasaysky field in Russia’s remote Arctic peninsula of Taymyr comes a step closer as state expert commission Glavgosexpertiza this week issued its official approval.
The field is located 105 km from the town of Dikson in the northwestern tip of the peninsula. It has reserves amounting to 5,7 million tons of high-quality coal suitable for use in the metallurg industry, the state company informs.
The field development plan includes extraction from an open pit and annual production up to 10 million tons. In the first stage of the project annual production will amount to 5 million tons.
It is company Severnaya Zvezda, a subsidiary of AEON, that stands behind the project. A key share of project financing is provided by Sberbank.
Behind AEON stands Roman Trotsenko, a well-connected businessman who on several occasions has made clear that he is ready to spend several billion dollars on Arctic mining and infrastructure projects.
Trotsenko and the Severnaya Zvezda intend to invest at least 35 billion rubles in the Taymyr coal project. And support from the federal government is solid.
The project that is formally branded as the West-Taymyr Industrial Cluster is included in a list of regional priority projects adopted by Prime Minister in late March this year.
The project also includes the building of a seaport and terminal on the coast of the Kara Sea, from where up to four million tons can be shipped out through the Northern Sea Route.
The terminal is located 87 km from Dikson and will be able to handle up to 198 ships per year.
While the Syradasaysky project forges ahead, the development of the nearby field licenses owned by Vostok Coal have come to a halt.
