The Russian steel producing and mining company Evraz Group (Evraz) has announced that it has won the tender to develop the Eastern Field of the western part of the Ulug-Khem coking coal deposit in Russia's Republic of Tyva, with a bid of Ruble 850 million (about $28 million).
The Eastern Field, bordering with the Mezhegey coal deposit for which Evraz won a mining license in March 2010, has high quality hard coking coal (grade Zh under Russian classification) reserves, including inferred resources of more than 550 million mt and out-of-balance reserves of more than 100 million mt.
Mine construction will begin in 2017, with full production capacity expected to be achieved in 2021.
"The acquisition of the license for the Eastern Field is in line with our strategy of enhancing vertical integration into raw materials, and in this case coking coal. This field is adjacent to the Mezhegey coal deposit, and there are significant synergies based on sharing the infrastructure needed to develop these two projects. Development of the Eastern Field will not require substantial capital expenditures until 2017," Evraz CEO Alexander Frolov commented.