Russia has put up for auction the right to develop two coal deposits, namely the Raspadskaya-3 mine and the Chertinsky Gluboky deposit both located in Kemerovo Oblast, which is one of Russia's most important industrial regions and which holds some of the world's largest deposits of coal.
According to Russia's Federal Agency for Management of Mineral Resources (Rosnedra), Raspadskaya Coal Company (Raspadskaya), the second largest coking coal producer in Russia and a subsidiary of domestic steelmaker Evraz Group has acquired for Ruble 104.5 million (about $3.57 million) the license to develop Raspadskaya-3 mine, with coal reserves estimated at 300 million mt.
Meanwhile, the license to develop the Chertinsky Gluboky coal deposit was bought by Chertinskaya-Yuzhnaya Mine Ltd, a part of Russia's leading coal concentrate producer Belon controlled by steel producer Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK), for Ruble 137.5 million (about $4.7 million). Chertinsky Gluboky deposit's В+С1+С2+Р1 coal reserves are estimated at 57.5 million mt. The coals of these grades are those most used in steelmaking, amounting to about 40 percent of the charge in the production of pig iron.