China’s Baojin Mining Group will build an ore-dressing plant at the polymetal deposit in the Zabaykalsky Krai in Eastern Siberia next year, an official of the local ministry for industry and energy said on Friday.
“The plant will be built near the [Noyon-Tologoisky lead and zinc] deposit with a capacity of 600,000 tons of ore per year. Currently polymetal ore is being transferred through the Russian-Chinese border to the ore-dressing plant in the town of Labudalin,” the official told RIA Novosti.
The Chinese miner also plans to complete geological prospecting at the Noyon-Tologoisky deposit in 2013. The company invested 700 million rubles ($21.5 million) in development of the deposits, including 220 million rubles in geological prospecting last year, the official added.
“The geological prospecting is continuing and [Baojin] plans to complete it in the first quarter of 2013,” the official said.
The current proven reserves of the deposit located near the Russian-Chinese border stands at over 14 million tons of ore, which contains 250,000 tons of lead, 217,000 tons of zinc and 949 tons of silver under C2 category.