Baikal Mining says starts development of Udokan ahead of schedule

MOSCOW, Aug 10 (PRIME) -- Baikal Mining Company, a part of USM Holdings of Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov, has started capital development of the Udokan copper deposit with preproduction mining ahead of schedule, the company said in a statement on Monday.

“Previously, we introduced changes into the technological development project of the field by moving the deadline of the beginning of capital development forward from to 2020 from 2021. The changes to the technological project were approved after a meeting of the central commission for development of solid minerals of the Federal Mineral Resources Agency,” the statement read.

“Capital development works encompass opening of the Udokan deposit, which provides access to the mineral deposits from the surface. In fact, we are starting development. The industry has been waiting for this event for 70 years since discovery (of the field),” the company said quoting Valery Kazikayev, chairman of the board of directors.

The Udokan deposit is one of the world’s largest copper deposits located near the Baikal Lake. The deposit’s mineral resources are estimated at 26.7 million tonnes and reserves at 15.1 million tonnes under the JORC Code. Under the Russian classification, the field’s resources stand at 20.1 million tonnes of copper and its resource potential is 27.3 million tonnes of copper.

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