Russian uranium mining company Khiagda, part pf state nuclear corporation Rosatom’s mining h9olding Atomerdmetzoloto (ARMZ), will make a profit for the first time in 2016 of more than RUB100m ($1.6m), CEO Khiagda CEO Alexander Glotov said on 14 December. This compares with a loss of RUB713m at the end of 2015.
Khiagda is located in the far-east Buryatia region with access to uranium reserves estimated at 350,000t of uranium, which is mined using in-situ leaching. Investment in developing the company totals RUB23bn and all the main facilities were completed in 2016. Projects for the immediate future include construction of a 110/10 kV substation, which will begin next year, and installation of a drying system for finished products. Glotov said Khiagda plans to increase the volume of uranium production by almost 23% in 2017, to 663t. The target of 540t for 2016 has already been met. Also in 2017 Khiagda plans to put the Istochnoye uranium deposit into operation. The reserves of the field amount to 2,055t of uranium and new unique technology will be used. Optimisation of equipment design ads standardisation means that costs will be reduced by around 30%. It was reported earlier that Khiagda intends to reach full capacity of 1,000t of uranium a year by 2019, and the maximum capacity of 1,200-1,300t a year by 2027.
