An investor group that includes the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the Russia-China Investment Fund and a Middle Eastern sovereign fund has completed acquisition of a stake of 9.53% in Russian metals and mining company Intergeo from ONEXIM Group.
Image: RDIF and other investors acquired 9.53% stake in ONEXIM’s Intergeo. Photo: courtesy of ONEXIM Group.
Intergeo was founded in 2007 with an objective to consolidate and develop non-ferrous metal deposits found in Siberia and the Far East.
The mining company’s assets include four mining licences, of which the Ak-Sug and Kingash polymetallic projects are being developed.
As of now, the two polymetallic projects are at the design stage as far as their mining, processing plants and infrastructure are concerned.
The new equity investment from the group of investors will be used for further growth of Intergeo’s business, which includes the development of the Kingash and Ak-Sug projects.
Intergeo CEO Dmitry Privalov said: “The project includes the design and construction of two of the world’s largest ore mining and processing plants in underdeveloped regions of Russia. This will not only create a new industry leader, but is also a major economic development for our regions.
“We are confident that the arrival of new partners will allow us to realize our greatest ambitions both in the Russian and the promising Asian markets.”
The Kingash project located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Ak-Sug project in Tyva Republic, are both said to have significant reserves of copper, nickel and various other non-ferrous metals.
According to RDIF, Kingash is the second largest nickel deposit in Russia. On the other hand, Ak-Sug is among the top five deposits in Russia in terms of copper reserves.
The total investment needed by Intergeo to develop the two polymetallic projects is estimated to cross RUB178bn ($2.72bn).
RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said: “This investment is an example of the successful involvement of Chinese partners in a Russian project, implemented from scratch. The project is also expected to attract funding from a number of Chinese banks.
“The project will give significant impetus to the economies of the two Russian regions and help create over 10,000 jobs. The company’s products have significant export potential, including in the Chinese market.”
According to the JORC Code, the mineral resources of the Kingash polymetallic deposit are 2.4 million tons of nickel, 1.1 million tons of copper, 98,000 tons of cobalt, 52,000 tons of gold and 261 tons of platinum group metals.
Production at the Kingash polymetallic project is due to start in 2024 with the planned annual capacity of the mining and processing plant being 520,000 tons of copper-nickel concentrate.
The mineral resources of Ak-Sug, as per the JORC Code, are 5.1 million tons of copper and 121 tons of gold. The polymetallic project is expected to produce 500,000 tons of copper concentrate and is due to enter into operations in 2023.