Nornickel announced that will take its another week to determine when it will restart operations at its Oktyabrsky and Taimyrsky mines in Siberia after halting operation due to groundwater flooding in February.
By now, the Russian miner has endured a 36pc production loss with the two mines shut, it said in a statement. The company could further lose 4-5pc of its production output this year if the mines remain closed for another month, according to media reports.
Nornickel is planning a recovery schedule for the mines once the current repair initiatives are completed by Mar 16, it stated. Currently the mines’ working tunnel has been filled with backfill mixture which is yet to harden. Once it does, the groundwater flow should stop and the company can restart production work at the mines.