Aricom to acquire mines on Russia-China border
International mining company Aricom PLC, announced that the company is planning to acquire 50 percent interest in the Kimkanskoye and Sutarskoye
iron ore deposits in the Far Eastern part of
Russia.
The company is currently developing the Kuranakh
iron ore mine in Amur Region of
Russia. The new acquisition will significantly strengthen Aricom's operations in
Russia's
Far East. The company is planning to take advantage of the anticipated continued strong demand in
China for
iron ore.
The company will spend up to $70 million in total to take over 50 percent of the
iron ore deposits in question.
The deposits are in the Evreyskaya Avtonomnaya Oblast (EAO), a region in
Russia's
Far East which borders with
China, and are located just four and ten kilometres, respectively, from the Trans-Siberian railway, offering easy access to the Chinese market.
The Kimkanskoye & Sutarskoye deposits are estimated to hold more than 550 million metric tons of
iron ore reserves at average grades of 33.0-35.7 percent.
The 50% interest is currently owned by LLC Expokom and the takeover is subject to its shareholders' approval.