The Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has announced that it will construct a six million mt capacity pelletizing plant for the production of high-grade pellets with Fe content above 65 percent at is iron ore subsidiary Stoilensky Mining and Beneficiation Plant (Stoilensky).
The construction of the new pelletizing plant is expected to be completed in 2014. The plant will be able to fully cover NLMK's pellet requirements as early as 2015, even considering the launch of the 3.4 million mt blast furnace No.7 at NLMK'S main production facility located in Lipetsk.
The project, which is part of the NLMK's strategy targeted at strengthening vertical integration, will be jointly executed with Siemens VAI/Outotec, a German-Finnish consortium. To ensure the required raw material supplies for the new pelletizing plant, NLMK plans a 30 percent year on year increase in iron ore output at Stoilensky's operating mine.
Investments in Stoilensky's operating and infrastructure facilities during 2011-2014 will total some Ruble 39 billion (about $1.33 billion).
Starting from 2015, Stoilensky's average annual output of saleable iron ore will be as follows: 2 million mt of sintering ore, 11 million mt of iron ore concentrate, and six million mt of iron ore pellets, ensuring NLMK's 100 percent self-sufficiency in iron ore raw materials.
During the construction of the pellet plant at Stoilensky, supplies of iron ore pellets to Novolipetsk will be carried out under long-term contracts between NLMK and Metalloinvest.
Stoilensky is Russia's third largest iron ore producer, with its share in Russia's total iron ore product output in 2010 amounting to 14 percent. Stoilensky's mineable reserves are estimated at five billion mt.