Leading platinum and nickel mining company Norilsk Nickel is to use half of its annual investment of up to $1 billion to develop its polar mining projects.

Meanwhile, the remaining money is earmarked for investment in new smelting equipment and for cutting emissions of sulphur dioxide.

It is hoped that the investment will enable the company's polar division's two processing plants to up their processing capacity of palladium from 14.2 million tonnes last year to 18.5 million by 2011.

The company also plans to transfer all its smelting operations to its Nadazhda smelter from its Nickel Plant by 2009.

Oleg Ignatov, Deputy Director of Economics and Finance for Norilsk's Polar division, told Reuters: "Closing part of the nickel plant will allow us to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions. By 2015, we will cut emissions several times. The reconstruction will allow us simultaneously to solve our ecological problems."

Mr Ignatov added that the expansion package has been facilitated by the company's impressive recent financial performance, which saw it record profits of $2.37 billion in the first-half of 2006, and the well of labour and resources on which it is able to draw.
Norilsk last week announced that it plans to open a training facility-cum-university to train staff.

Sources:
RTRS-INTERVIEW-Norilsk targets mining, ecology for investment
10Apr2007

'Norilsk Nickel to open its own university'
05/04/07
http://english.newslab.ru/news/217637

Ÿ Adfero Ltd