Alrosa Starts Operations at Lomonosov Mining And Processing Division

(IDEX Online News) – Alrosa unit JSC Severalmaz has put into operation the processing plant №2 at the Lomonosov Mining & Processing Division (MPD) in the Arkhangelsk region.

Up to now, Lomonosov MPD has been the site of operating processing plant №1 with a processing capacity of 1 million tons of ore per year, providing annual production of about 500,000 carats. The input of the second plant’s module with capacity of three million tons of ore per year will significantly magnify the processing capacities of the Lomonosov MPD and subsequently increase the volume of production of rough diamonds.

The Lomonosov MPD is developing the diamond deposit named after M.I. Lomonosov, consisting of six kimberlite pipes with 197 million carats of mineral reserves. Mining currently takes place at the Arkhangelskaya pipe.

The launch of the new processing plant allows handling additional volumes of ore from the pipe: in 2014 JSC Severalmaz is planning to produce 1.7 million carats of diamonds. Along with that, the company is completing the stripping process at another pipe, Karpinskogo-1, and will start diamond mining at the operation in 2015. By 2021, Severalmaz is planning to reach annual production of over five million carats per year.

"Development of the Lomonosov MPD is an important part of Alrosa's growth strategy," said Alrosa President Fyodor Andreev during the official opening ceremony of the factory. "Severalmaz has a significant resource base; altogether the estimated ore grade and price of diamonds contained in it make the mining at Lomonosov deposit cost-effective.

"Today the share of Severalmaz in Alrosa’s overall production is about 2 percent, but soon it will contribute up to 10 percent. According to the group growth strategy, this project will help ALROSA to increase total production of rough diamonds up to 41 million carats by 2021.

"The Arkhangelsk region has rich deposits of rough diamonds, its reserves amount to at least 15 percent of all Russian reserves. With the launch of the brand-new processing plants, the Arkhangelsk region will become a new diamond province in Russia. This will create the basis for further development of the region, provide appeal for investors, new jobs and increase in tax revenues," noted Arkhangelsk Region Governor Igor Orlov.