The world's largest producer of high-grade nickel expects to restore full capacity at its flooded mines in Siberia in the next 3-4 months but revised its metal production volumes to reflect the mining halt, it said on March 16.
Nornickel's Oktyabrsky and Taimyrsky mines have been closed since February 24 following an inflow of groundwater into the two mines.
The nickel production shortfall should be 65,000 tonnes for copper, 35,000 tonnes for nickel and 22 tonnes for the platinum metal groups, Nornickel said.
The company's Norilsk Division, which oversees the two mines in the Siberian region, has developed a plan where the Oktyabrsky mine - with a capacity of 5 million tonnes per year of ore output - would gradually ramp-up in the second half of April into May as a best case scenario, it said.
The Taimyrsky mine - with...