In a report of the annual meeting of Rosatom’s mining division Rosatom Nedra with stakeholders, it noted that licences have been obtained for the development of the Shirondukuyskoye deposit in eastern Siberia, and the Tetrakhskoye deposit, in the Republic of Buryatia.
In addition, it said, JSC Khiagda was constructing new production infrastructure to develop the Namarusskoye and Dybrynskoye deposits and that the first uranium was produced at the JSC Dalur Dobrovolnoye deposit in the Kurgan Region.
Viktor Svyatetsky, First Deputy Director General and Executive Director of Rosatom Nedra, said: “Our key objective is to expand our uranium mineral resource base to meet the needs of the Russian nuclear energy industry … in 2026, we will complete the bulk of capital mining work at the Shirondukuyskoye deposit, with the aim of further extracting about 400 tonnes of uranium from it, beginning in 2028. There are plans to bring the Elkon project out of hibernation. This uranium deposit currently holds the largest reserves in Russia.”
A project to modernise the Krasnokamensk Thermal Power Plant has been taking place with a goal of increasing electricity generation by 60 MW to help the development of uranium projects and ensure a stable supply of electricity and heat to Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union’s flagship uranium mining enterprise and the city of Krasnokamensk.
Oleg Kazanov, director of the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use (Rosnedra), said: “The rapid growth of uranium consumption in Russia and globally requires a new approach to ensuring our country’s raw material supply. Over the next 7-10 years, we will need to increase the volume of economically viable uranium reserves within the three existing mining centres, and over the next 15-20 years, we will need to create new mining centres.”
The meeting also heard that non-uranium businesses now account for 37.5% of revenue, helped by commercial production beginning at the Severnoye gold deposit in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where 1.5 tonnes of gold have been mined. Further geological exploration work has been taking place, as well as various projects being developed related to rare earths.
