MMC Norilsk Nickel announces the decision of Russian platinum LLC to terminate negotiations on the creation of the Arctic Palladium joint venture. Russian platinum is independently implementing a project to develop the Chernogorskoye field and the Norilsk-1 southern section. This decision was made due to the lack of necessary approvals for the creation of a joint venture by one of the shareholders of Norilsk Nickel — UC Rusal.
Partnership with the "Russian platinum" has been restated by the management of "Norilsk Nickel". They also considered the possibility of supporting projects of Russian platinum and its potential partners.
In particular, NorNickel is discussing the provision of services and resources that are important for the project, as well as the potential purchase of products on market terms that will be produced at the Chernogorskoye and southern section of Norilsk-1 fields. In the strategic perspective, this cooperation will provide the scarce market with the necessary amount of metals, despite the decrease in the project's profitability directly for Norilsk Nickel.
The potential of the assets of the Arctic Palladium project is highly valued by the management of NorNickel, because promising and first-class assets can ensure the stable development of the platinum group metals market.
Sergey Dubovitsky, Vice President of MMC, commented: "Despite the temporary turbulence in the raw material markets, we continue to view palladium as a metal that has strong fundamentals in the strategic perspective. Taking into account the current situation, as a responsible leader in the palladium market, we intend to develop a long-term partnership with Russian platinum in the field of operational and commercial cooperation."
For reference:
MMC Norilsk Nickel is the world's largest producer of palladium and high-grade Nickel, as well as a major producer of platinum and copper.
Russian platinum is a group of companies that develops several deposits of non-ferrous metals, including platinoids, which make up a significant share of the company's revenue.
