8 MAY 15, 2015 • mining-journal.com Follow us on @miningonline

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INDUSTRIAL MINERALS Apatite for fertilisers

Nadav Shemer got a huge deposit here, and we’re trying to understand what Self-sufficiency was the word on benefit it can bring to this the lips of our EuroChem hosts company. It takes a lot of during a recent tour of the research. And that carbonatite Kovdorskiy mining complex in area – we haven’t even touched ’s Arctic north-west. it yet. We’re still mapping it out.” After guiding Mining Journal Possibilities aside, the priority and others around a brand new for owner Andrey Melnichenko apatite-staffelite ore-processing (who holds a 92% interest) and plant, officials expressed his management team is to confidence at the prospect of become, in the words of investor extracting enough phosphate to relations chief Olivier Harvey, a end reliance on external sources top-four fertiliser producer. for the fertiliser feedstock. To achieve this goal,

The plant is designed to Photo: Nadav Shemer EuroChem will have to compete produce 948,000t of apatite The Kovdorskiy mine is situated in Russia’s sparsely-populated north with PotashCorp, Mosaic and concentrate and 130,000t of iron Agrium across the three main ore by-product each year, The journey from the Barents carbonatites of the Anomalous types of fertiliser: nitrogen, bringing total production at Sea port city of Murmansk to zone that is indigenous to phosphorus (from phosphate) Kovdorskiy to 2.5Mt apatite, Kovdorskiy takes a little more the region, but for which and potash (potassium). 5.6Mt iron ore, and 8,000t of than three hours by car. no practical use has been EuroChem says it sits sixth for baddeleyite, a rare zirconium It passes through , or found. global phosphoric acid capacity, oxide with a range of boreal forest, interlaid with at 1.2Mt/y of feed for its three applications including ceramics. frozen lakes and interrupted phosphates fertiliser plants in Development of the apatite only by the odd mine – “Open-pit mining Russia and Lithuania, and eighth and staffelite (a variety of including Severstal’s Olcon for ammonia, with 2.4Mt/y going fluorapatite that contains a small iron-ore complex – and roadside can continue until to three nitrogen fertiliser plants amount of carbonate) deposit at fishmonger. 2049. Activities are in Russia and Belgium. the edge of the magnetite- One hundred and fifty then likely to head Upon completion of a planned apatite main pit is also minerals can be found on the ramp-up in potash production, underway. This will serve as a Peninsula. At Kovdorskiy, underground” EuroChem expects to reach fifth

new source for apatite 20km from the Finnish border, place with 5.1Mt/y of K2O to be concentrate, the main raw EuroChem has identified several turned into potassium chloride material in phosphate fertilisers. of these: in addition to Bailey held up a half-filled (KCI) and potassium sulphate “Seventy-five percent our magnetite-apatite, apatite- glass of water to demonstrate (SOP). phosphate is supplied by staffelite and an adjoining but what EuroChem could do with Development is underway at ourselves – one of the reasons unexploited apatite-carbonatite this abundance of minerals. two greenfield potash projects: we bought [the Kok-Djob deposit, it has one deposit in Some people refer to the glass VolgaKaliy, near phosphate deposit in] Kazakhstan reserve – containing iron ore as half-full, some as half-empty, (formerly Stalingrad) in and one of the reasons we’re and rare earths. but EuroChem did neither, he southwestern Russia, and trying to increase capacity at this There is also kovdorskite, said. Usolskiy, just west of the Ural site,” Clark Bailey, the American a widespread phosphate “[We say:] I’ve got water in a Mountains. head of EuroChem’s mining concentrated in magnetite- glass. What can I do with it? How “We’ll only touch the market division, told us. calcite rock and dolomite can I make money with it? We’ve in four or five years from now and I don’t see anybody else being there responding,” said Harvey. Officials would not be drawn on funding, except to say that these goals could be achieved without any additional acquisition or projects. EuroChem is still a privately held company, although Melnichenko has spoken publicly about his wish to eventually list shares on an international exchange, and this is still on the agenda. Sign outside the apatite-staffelite processing plant reads: “Apatite-staffelite complex: Investing in Russia’s As for immediate production, future” Kovdorskiy is a key part of

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EuroChem’s plans. Kovdorskiy GOK, or Mining and Dressing Plant, produced first iron ore in 1962 and for 13 years it produced only the raw steel-making ingredient while the technology was being developed to extract other components from the ore. Construction on an apatite- baddeleyite processing plant started in 1974, with first apatite concentrate produced in 1975 and first baddeleyite concentrate following one year later. EuroChem acquired the complex in 2001 and immediately increased production of iron ore and apatite concentrates through processing of tailings that were left over from the pure-play iron-ore era. It finished exploiting the tailings in 2014, hence the construction of the apatite- Kovdorskiy holds a variety of minerals, including apatite and magnetite staffelite plant – which took 18 months to complete. With the exception of a settlement, with street after affected” EuroChem, officials A 25-year expansion handful of Sami people, street of nearly identical said. programme has been mapped the area around Kovdor, -style buildings. But Bailey gave the example of a out: a full ramp up of apatite- population 18,500, was largely beyond the façade, it enjoys German equipment delivery staffelite output in 2016, uninhabited before it attracted certain perks. being held up for several processing of low-grade the interest of geologists in the EuroChem says it spent Rb87 months until it could be iron-ore tailings to start in 1930s. million (US$1.7 million) on ascertained that the materials 2020, processing of the apatite- Today, 20% of locals work at the community last year: were not proscribed. carbonatite in 2024, and full about half to and other “The companies in ramp-up of apatite-carbonatite infrastructure, a portion towards seem to be creating their own output in 2027, by which stage “Today, 20% of sending 16 children for medical sanctions, more than the Kovdorskiy expects to be locals work at treatment near , and the sanctions list itself passed by the producing 7.75Mt of iron-ore the plant, and remainder to social activities. EU. They’re very careful – [you] concentrate and 4.24Mt of Given the location – winter have to give them credit – to apatite concentrate. company officials lasts nine months, and it is make sure they’re not supplying Open-pit mining can continue say they do completely dark or almost- anything that’s on the list. And until 2049. Activities are then completely dark for several then all it’s doing for us is just likely to head underground, not distinguish months a year – there is also a costing us some paperwork so Bailey said, explaining that all between the big focus on winter sports far. It’s not stopping us,” said three deposits – magnetite- facilities. In 2009 EuroChem Bailey. apatite, apatite-staffelite and interests of spent US$1.3 million developing Harvey added that EuroChem apatite-carbonatite - were the Kovdorskiy a ski facility on the outskirts of had not had any issues when it verticallt inclined, “like the town. closed a US$750 million loan kimberlite pipes”. complex and the On our way from the mining facility, to finance the Usolskiy “The choice is to deepen the interests of the complex to EuroChem project, with four foreign banks pit [and] expand the walls or to headquarters in the city we and three Russian banks. The begin underground operations. city” stopped off at an indoor hockey facility was signed in September, We’ve already done a front-end rink, which has hosted a “when sanctions were at their engineering study with a shaft the plant, and company officials tournament of teams from other strongest, or at least the designer – you put in vertical say they do not distinguish EuroChem-affiliated towns. environment was weakest in shafts in underground mine between the interests of the terms of co-operation between design,” he said. Kovdorskiy complex and the Unaffected by sanctions the West and Russia,” – proof, “It’s a trade-off to decide interests of the city. With the exception of some according to Harvey, “the market which way you go, because once Kovdor appears to the “minor hiccups”, international is still there for some select you make one decision you’re outsider just as one would sanctions against Russian companies with a good track kind of stuck with it.” expect of a remote Russian business “haven’t really record.”

More from the site visit to Kovdorskiy will be published in the July/August edition of Mining Journal’s sister publication, Mining Magazine

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