The Russian steelmaker Severstal has announced that a subsidiary of its mining division - Karelsky Okatysh has won a right to develop the South Korpangsky area of the Korpangsky Iron Ore deposit, located in northwest Russia.
As a result of the auction, held by the Russian Federal Subsoil Resource Management Agency on October 16, 2007, Karelsky Okatysh has the right to explore and mine the South Korpangsky area of the Korpangsky Iron Ore deposit for 20 years. The license can later be extended for a greater period upon request.
The deposit has an estimated 80 million metric tons of iron ore reserves, with average iron content exceeding 27 percent.
Korelsky Okatysh plans to begin the development of the Western area of the South Korpangsky deposit, which holds about 15 million metric tons of iron ore in reserves, by 2010. The production of ore from this part is expected to be 2-2.5 million metric tons per year.