Russian miner Nornickel plans to construct a new copper refining facility in the city of Monchegorsk after it terminated earlier this month the production of anode copper at its Kola MMC, the company says.

The new plant will be able to produce up to 150,000 tonnes of copper, which is double the capacity of the closed shop, Kallanish notes.

The facility will use the state-of-the-art roasting-leaching-electroextraction technology, observing the highest environmental standards, the enterprise claims. There will be a high level of mechanisation and automation, with a much smaller proportion of manual labour.

Closing the Kola MMC will reduce sulphur dioxide emissions in Monchegorsk to less than 30,000 t in 2021, and with the shutdown of the smelting shop in the town of Nikel, the emissions in Kola Peninsula in 2021 will be 85% lower compared to 2015, Nornickel says.

Immediately after the shop’s closure, the company will start cleaning up the production facilities and the metallurgical units from the copper-containing materials. This work will last throughout 2021, and the dismantling of production facilities and buildings will start in 2022.

Earlier, Nornickel said it expects its metal production volumes to fall short of its 2021 guidance, taking a hit of 35,000 t for nickel and 65,000 t for copper.

In February, the miner partially halted production at its Oktyabrsky and Taimyrsky mines due to flooding. Operations have also been impacted by a deadly accident at the Norilsk Concentrator.

The company plans to restore full capacity at its Oktyabrsky and Taimyrsky mines within the next 3-4 months. However, Nornickel doesn’t rule out the risk of an additional delay in the implementation of this plan. At Norilsk Concentrator, the disseminated ore processing circuit has been idled and repairs are being carried out.