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Decision Looming on Future of Alrosa's Mir Mine

January 13, 22 by John Jeffay

(IDEX Online) -  Alrosa is poised to decide whether it will re-open the Mir mine, where a flooding accident claimed eight lives in 2017.

The company's CEO Sergei Ivanov told Almazny Krai, a Russian TV channel, a decision could be made as early as this May.

He said they were conducting a feasibility study and had identified reserves of almost 38m carats at Mir, in eastern Siberia.

"We can state that everything should move towards a positive decision," he said. 

Alrosa has previously indicated that if it did re-open the mine, it would be 2031-2 before the first ore was processed.

The underground Mir mine has remained closed since water leaked into a shaft in August 2017, killing eight miners. Another 143 people were brought to safety.

Mir was producing 3.8m carats a year before the accident and resuming operations could add up to 25 per cent to Alrosa's earnings (EBITDA).

File pic courtesy Yakutia's Rescue Service shows its team at the mine
 

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