| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Private Emerald Mine to Start in Russia
The Urals Mining Co. won an auction yesterday for the right to develop the Sverdlovsk emerald deposit, near the village of Malyshevo, with a bid 12 million rubles on a starting price of 6 million rubles. The deposit has reserves of 642.3 kg. of C1+C2 emeralds. (The nearby Malyshevo deposit, the largest in Europe, has reserves of more than 61 tons.) Experts estimate the value of the Sverdlovsk reserves at $10-12 million and the investment necessary at the deposit at $1.5-2 million. Production is expected to reach 1500 karats per year.
Urals Mining Co. was founded in 2005 by private individuals. The company is registered at the same address as the nongovernmental pension fund of UGMK Holding. (UGMK is Urals Mining and Smelting Co.) UGMK owns the Yuzhno-Shameiskoe molybdenum deposit in Malyshevo. UGMK spokesmen declined to comment on the company's connections to Urals Mining Co. yesterday.
Urals Mining Co. will be the first private company on the Russian emerald market. The Irish-Russian Zelenkamen has held the license for the neighboring Malyshevo deposit since 1993, but it has been unable to start production there. Now the Federal Natural Resources Usage Supervisory Service (Rosprirodnadzor) is now in the process of withdrawing that license. Nor are any other emerald mines in Russia operating now. The market for precious stones is growing by 20-30 percent per year.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 20, 2007
|
|
|
Photo: Mikhail Razuvaev
