Alrosa to Raise Production to 36 million Carats in 2013 and 2014
December 18, 13
 The Mir mine where an increase in output helped |
The rise in production is due to the purchase of the OJSC Nizhne-Lenskoe operation, the increased diamond grades at the Yubileynaya pipe and an increase in output at the Mir underground mine.
Alrosa plans to produce about the same amount of diamonds next year as in 2013.
The company forecasts “a stable balance between demand and supply on the rough diamond market with a potential gradual growth in rough diamond prices of 2-3 percent throughout 2014”.
The decisions were approved at a Supervisory Board meeting on December 17 that discussed the company’s budget for 2014.
“The priority target of the Alrosa Group for 2014 is to keep its world’s leading position in terms of rough diamond mining and develop its production facilities and mineral resource base.”
Alrosa will also start preparing for the 2015-2017 diamond supply contract period. “Long-term agreements with major manufacturers of polished diamonds and jewelry remain Alrosa’s key priority, and the company expects this number to grow in the new contract period. Making up the customer list, Alrosa will take into account its experience of cooperation and amount of previous work with the customers under long-term agreements and spot transactions.
In addition, the firm said it will be “focusing on the core diamond business and pursuing the program of exit from non-core assets, increasing the operating efficiency and optimizing the corporate management model, as well as increasing the number of independent directors on the Supervisory Board”.
The miner said that in the mining sphere its plans for 2014 include the completion of the construction of the open-pit mine at the Botuobinskaya pipe in the Nyurba Mining and Processing Division, where diamond mining is to start in 2015.
It will start work on the Udachny underground mine, and put into operation the Ebelyakh and Ruchey Gusiny placers at OJSC Almazy Anabara, and to launch at full capacity of three million tons of ore per year the second part of the processing plant of the Lomonosovsky Mining and Processing Division at OJSC Severalmaz.
Alrosa’s capital investment next year will amount to $1.18 billion (39 billion rubles), the same level invested this year. However, the investment in underground mines will be increased by 30 percent from this year to $425 million (14 billion rubles).
Most of the money will be spent on construction of the Udachny underground mine, where the most extensive works are planned in 2014 before putting it into operation.