The Russian miner Petropavlovsk Group of Companies (Petropavlovsk), which manages the principal assets located in Russia of London-listed mining and exploration company Peter Hambro Mining, has started the construction of its iron ore project located on the Kimkan and Sutara (K&S) iron ore fields in Russia's Far East, while it has also started building the first railway bridge between Russia and China across the Amur river.
The K&S iron ore project will have an annual production capacity of 4.18 million mt of iron ore concentrate and 2.5 million mt of granulated direct reduced iron, produced by the use of ITmk3 technology. Currently, the construction of a mining and processing plant is being carried out, with full production capacity scheduled to be reached in 2012. In 2010, it is planned to begin the construction of a metallizing plant, which is to start production of granulated iron in 2014.
Petropavlovsk is to invest a total of Ruble 59.5 billion (approx. $1.93 billion) in its K&S iron ore project and in its other projects, including the implementation of its Garinskoye mining project. The K&S project is located close to the border with China, and will allow the company to export iron ore to this country more cheaply.
Meanwhile, the construction of the railway bridge across the Amur river has become the first joint project for the development of the border territories of Russia and China. The Russian part of the project will require an investment of Ruble 4.2 billion (about $136.2 million). It is expected that the first train will cross the bridge in 2013, and by 2020 the bridge is expected to carry 20 million mt of goods per year, of which metallurgical products will account for 45 percent.
On September 14, 2009, Peter Hambro Mining decided to change its name to Petropavlovsk PLC to better reflect the fact that the London-traded company's assets are located in Russia. It is expected that the new name will be officially registered on September 23.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in October 2008 Aricom, the Anglo-Russian developer of mineral resources, entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with one of the largest Chinese equipment manufacturers and a leading contractor to the metals and mining industry, China Metallurgical Group Corporation (CMCC), regarding the construction of a mining and processing plant at Aricom's Kimkan and Sutara site. On April 22, 2009, Aricom merged with Peter Hambro Mining, the second biggest gold producer in Russia.