Alrosa, Russia's largest diamond miner, continues to look for a strategic investor for the development of its Timir iron ore project located in South Yakutia, on the Sino-Russian border.
"Alrosa is looking for a well-established international or Russian company with experience in the development of iron ore assets and free steel making capacities that might be interested in becoming a strategic investor in the equity of Timir," Alrosa vice president Sergey Pushkin said at the recent 8th International China Iron Ore Conference 2010 held in Beijing.
According to the reports, more than ten Chinese steel mills have already expressed their interest in the project, with Chinese steelmaker Anshan Iron and Steel Group (Angang) being one of the potential investors.
The South Yakutia Timir iron ore project includes four iron ore deposits, namely Tayozhnoye, Desovskoye, Tarynnakhskoye and Gorkitskoye, with total commercial iron ore reserves assessed at 4.8 billion mt. According to experts, iron ore resources in South Yakutia have been underexplored and may be in excess of 20 billion mt, which would make this region one of the largest iron ore producing centers in the world.
The development of the deposits presupposes expanding the regional infrastructure, i.e., building transport infrastructure, a power supply line and two mining and processing plants. The development of the four deposits is part of the Russia's government program ‘Integrated Development of SouthYakutia', aimed at creating a large industrial region with well-developed infrastructure. Within the framework of this program, already in the implementation stage, infrastructure around the Timir iron ore deposits is being constructed.
Currently, Alrosa assisted by independent Russian and international experts, has begun work to prepare a detailed feasibility study with a view to developing the deposits and building mining and processing facilities there. Construction will begin in 2011, with production planned to start in 2013. The project is expected to reach a capacity of 40 million mt of iron ore at 67-69 percent iron content.
Alrosa formed its mining subsidiary Timir Mining Company in September 2008 to develop its South Yakutia iron ore deposits.