Rusburmash JSC (controlled by ARMZ uranium holding) has started engineering and geological surveys of a copper deposit in Chukotka under a contract with GDK Baimskaya LLC (a company of KAZ Minerals).
According to ARMZ, Rusburmash will perform drilling operations as part of surveys related to the planned road from the port to the field. Some of the equipment and tools were delivered to the site by winter roads. Three more drilling rigs will be delivered along the Northern Sea Route. The work is to be completed in December 2021.
The Press Service quoted Dinis Ezhurov, Head of Rusburmash, who said: "It is planned to drill wells of at least 18.5 thousand linear meters in total. We will work with perpetually frozen ground in the harsh environment of the Far North. We have appropriate specialists and equipment, and good experience of work in Novaya Zemlya and other regions."
The largest project for the construction of a mining and processing facility based on the Peschanka porphyry copper deposit is being implemented in the Bilibinsky District in Chukotka. The facility capacity will be 70 million tonnes of ore per year (1.4 million tonnes of copper concentrate per year).
GDK Baimskaya is implementing a project for the construction of a mining and processing facility for the Baimskaya ore zone development.
The Baimskaya copper-porphyry area is owned by KAZ Minerals, the Republic of Kazakhstan. The company is currently developing a feasibility study for the project, while its completion was postponed from 2020 to the first half of 2021 due to changes in the infrastructure plan. Baimskaya is expected to start production by the end of 2027. The estimated capital budget is about $ 8 billion. JORC estimated the resources of the Peschanka deposit, located within the Baimskaya, as 9.9 million tons of copper and 16.6 million ounces of gold.