Evraz invests $260 million in acceleration of vanadium mining and processing in Russia
By Eugene Gerden
Evraz, a UK-incorporated multinational steel manufacturing and mining company part-owned by Russian business is continuing implementing its major vanadium projects which involves building a large-scale processing facility in the Russian Tula region and the acceleration of development of its vanadium mining assets in the Ekaterinburg region.
As for processing facility, according to earlier statements made by Evraz’s Vice President and Head of the Vanadium Division Denis Pavlyuchenkov, the cost of the project is currently estimated at US$260 Million, which is significantly higher initially planned figures.
Denis Pavlyuchenkov commented:
“In fact, the growth of the investment estimates became the result of many of factors. Firstly, the rise in price of building materials, and secondly, the shortage of contractors. In fact, we were forced to revise contracts with many of our partners and there was an increase in price. Of course, this is equipment. Despite the fact that about 90% of this is domestic equipment, nevertheless global prices for the metal are growing and the cost of equipment is also growing».
The launch of production is scheduled for the summer of 2025, while the project is financed by Evraz’s own funds.
The company is currently carrying out construction and installation work on the site, including installing process equipment.
The new enterprise will be able to process up to 100,000 tons of raw materials per year, producing about 19,000 tons of vanadium pentoxide. The new plant will create more than 500 new jobs and will significantly strengthen the company’s positions in the global market.
The plant will operate on a full technological cycle, including delivery and processing of raw materials and production of the finished product. It will use the technology of hydrometallurgical extraction of metal from slag, which is already used at another EVRAZ vanadium enterprise in Tula – Vanadium Tula. EVRAZ has been developing its Tula vanadium cluster since the beginning of 1970s when the first batch of ferrovanadium was produced.
In the meantime, it is expected that the existing Evraz vanadium mining assets in the Russian Urals region are expected to be the major suppliers of raw materials for the needs of its Tula processing cluster.
Currently Evraz manages Kachkanarsky Mining and Processing Plant (KMPP), the Russian iron ore producer located in the city of Kachkanar in the Ekaterinburg region (Russia’s Urals) where the country’s largest iron ore fields with high vanadium reserves are located. As for KMPP, this the only mining and processing plant in the world that produces iron-vanadium concentrate, agglomerate and pellets used in blast furnace smelting.
Currently the vanadium mining cluster of Evraz consists of Gusevogorsk iron ore deposit and the Sobstvenno-Kachkanarskoye field. As for Gusevogorsk field, it is close to depletion, while by 2030 its output will decline and will not exceed 40 million tonnes of ore annually.
In this regard, particular hopes of the company for the future supplies are put on the neigbouring Sobstvenno-Kachkanarskoye field, which is located on the slope of Mount Kachkanar. The reserves of iron titanomagnetite ores with high vanadium reserves are estimated at 6.87 billion tons with an average iron content of 16.6%. Given the enterprise’s need for 60 million tons per year, the reserves of the field will be enough for about 100 years. As for Sobstvenno-Kachkanarskoye field, since 2019 Evraz has invested about RUB 7 billion in its development, targeting the annual output of 13 million tonnes of ore at the initial stage.