Kyuchus is a large gold deposit in Yakutia. In October last year, the auction for the deposit was won by White Gold LLC, a joint venture of Rostec Group of Companies and PJSC Seligdar. Despite the fact that experts assess the quality of Kyuchus ore as difficult for beneficiation, the project promises good prospects due to very high grades. But at the same time, in the area of the deposit there is completely no infrastructure necessary for the implementation of such large mining projects – therefore, very serious investments will be required at the start of development. All available funds are aimed at saving the domestic economy, and there is nowhere to get money in the near future. It is not entirely clear how the state-owned Rostec, also under sanctions, will be able to interact with large Chinese, again, state capital – but its help in the development of Kyuchus will definitely be useful. We can only hope that the officials will somehow find a common language.
The second object in which the Chinese are clearly interested is the Elga gold deposit in the Amur region. It is especially interesting not only in view of the traditional thirst of the PRC for the development of Russian Far Eastern resources, but also because the Pokrovsky autoclave-hydrometallurgical complex is located not far from Elga, which makes it possible to effectively extract gold from refractory ores. But even here, not everything is smooth – the license for Elga belongs to TEMI LLC, 75% of which is owned by Petropavlovsk Plc – one of the largest gold miners in Russia, which has been trying to get out of a protracted corporate conflict for two years now. The company’s founder, Pavel Maslovsky, has been in jail for more than a year on dubious charges of fraud, the shares are rapidly losing value, and development programs are apparently suspended indefinitely. And this is where Chinese investment can come in handy. Full development of a large gold deposit with good grades will help Petropavlovsk maintain its leading position, and will help the Chinese earn a little money. The only question that remains is: are the Chinese ready to cooperate with a company that is in a protracted corporate conflict?
And finally, the Udokan copper deposit in the Trans-Baikal Territory. Udokan is owned by Udokan Copper, owned by USM Holdings Limited of Alisher Usmanov. And here, too, everything is far from simple. Since February 28, personal sanctions have been introduced against Usmanov, severely limiting his ability to attract investment from abroad. Meanwhile, the development of the country’s largest copper deposit will require very impressive cash injections. Now the construction of the processing plant building on Udokan is in full swing, the launch of the first stage of the mining and metallurgical plant is planned for 2022, but experts doubt that Usmanov will be able to maintain this vigorous pace against the background of the rapidly developing economic crisis. Although China has not joined the sanctions against Russia and its individual citizens, Chinese investors will definitely be looking at a potential deal with Usmanov much more closely. But now the probability of finding other money on open markets is approaching zero, and therefore this attention will have to be endured.
Whether things will come to the point where the Chinese will enter an industry that is strategically important for Russia, time will tell. But you can be sure now that, once entering it, they will never refuse such a tasty morsel.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
