MMK starts production at its Sosnovsky iron ore deposit

In October 2003 MMK obtained a license to develop the Sosnovsky iron ore deposit situated in Chelyabinsk region 360 km away from MMK production site. In February 2007 MMK acquired 51% of the iron ore producing company OOO Bakalskoe Rudoupravlenie (OOO BRU). In September 2007 the license to develop the Sosnovsky deposit was transferred to OOO BRU.

Production at the Sosnovsky deposit was officially started on August 07, 2009 with the participation of MMK, OOO BRU and the Ministry of natural resources representatives.

The reserves of the deposit are estimated to equal to 70 mln t of iron ore which will allow to extract ore for about 40 years. It is planned to extract 370 thousand t of ore in 2009 and 500 thousand t in 2010. Maximum production volumes at Sosnovsky deposit will equal to 2-2,5 mln t per annum. The sinter output will be more then 1 mln t to be produced by a dry magnetic separation method.