The NIS and Russia’s leading refractory goods manufacturer, Magnesite Group has recently started developing Goluboye field in Krasnoyarsk Region (the village of Razdolinsk). The mining operations began in late August, with industrial extraction and shipments scheduled for the end of 2006 or the beginning of 2007.

The explored reserves of Goluboye deposit come to 15.5m tons, yet the amount may turn out to be larger after additional exploration work is done. The estimated throughput of the pit is 200,000 tons of raw magnesite a year. According to the Group experts, this output will have been achieved by 2008. This deposit offers very good quality magnesite (better than anywhere in the NIS, in fact). Processing the raw produce from the deposit makes it possible to get fused periclase with over 98% MgO content, which is virtually impossible with the stuffs from the other deposits located in the NIS and almost all deposits in China. Goluboye deposit will allow the Group to significantly reduce its dependency on the periclase powder bought from China as well as raise the quality of their goods and thus their competitiveness, and launch new products, for instance, caustic magnesite.

Magnesite Group is planning to put up a new industrial complex meant for raw produce processing in the vicinity of the deposit in 2007-2009. This project is expected to require over 1bn RUR worth of investments, the company’s spokesperson said to UrBC representative. The complex will have a calcined magnesite processing plant with the annual capacity of 95,000 tons a year (of which 62,000 tons will be used to get fused materials and 33,000 tons will be sold as the end product), a coal gasification shop, a store house and the residential area for the builders and personnel. The further stages of construction provide for a fused periclase shop with the throughput of 30,000 tons a year and a production site for making magnesia cement and magnesia-cement-based products. Part of the raw produce will be processed by the periclase plant of Razdolinsk.

Magnesite Group is the only company in the NIS that has access to magnesia raw stuff. Apart from Goluboye deposit, the holding possesses a few deposits of Satka group in Chelyabinsk Region, with total reserves of these deposits coming to over 150m tons. This provides the Group with natural magnesite stock for the next 55 to 60 years.

‘Having one’s own deposits is a tremendous competitive advantage of the Group that makes it possible for the company to keep up its share of the Russian and global markets, maintain good quality of produce and be price-flexible unlike our rivals,’ said General Director of Magnesite Group Sergey Odegov.

‘In the short term, we are going to further develop our raw produce potential by exploring the deposits and taking a number of steps aimed at raising the efficiency of using this raw stuff. We will have invested around 300m RUR in this project before the end of 2006.’