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RAPAPORT... Severalmaz, a subsidiary of ALROSA, launched operations at its ''№2'' plant at the Lomonosov mining and processing division in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia. The company's first operating plant has been providing annual production of about 500,000 carats and now the mining firm anticipates that two processing operations will nearly triple carat capacity. The project hosts six kimberlite pipes with mineral reserves estimated at 197 million carats. Mining is currently taking place at the Arkhangelskaya pipe, where the launch of this second processing plant allows greater enough volume of ore for Severalmaz to target producing 1.7 million carats of diamonds this year.
In addition, Severalmaz expects to complete the stripping process at another pipe, Karpinskogo-1, where it will launch diamond mining in 2015. By 2021, Severalmaz is planning to reach annual production of over 5 million carats per year.
''Development of the Lomonosov project is an important part of ALROSA's growth strategy. Severalmaz has a significant resource base; altogether the estimated ore grade and price of diamonds contained in it make the mining at Lomonosov deposit cost-effective. Today the share of Severalmaz in ALROSA’s overall production is about 2 percent, but soon it will contribute up to 10 percent. According to the group growth strategy, this project will help ALROSA to increase total production of rough diamonds up to 41 million carats by 2021,'' said Fyodor Andreev, the president of ALROSA.
Igor Orlov, the governor of Arkhangelsk, added, ''The Arkhangelsk region has rich deposits of rough diamonds; its reserves amount to at least 15 percent of all Russian reserves. With the launch of the brand new processing plants, the Arkhangelsk region will become a new diamond province in Russia. This will create the basis for further development of the region, provide appeal for investors, new jobs and increase in tax revenue.''
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