Nornickel is installing a new flash smelting furnace at its Nadezhda Smelter, the world’s largest supplier of palladium and Class 1 nickel, said in a press release. This new furnace is set to replace one of the existing smelting units that has become obsolete and is being phased out of operation, Nornickel said.
Its key mining and refining operations based in the Russian Arctic, Nornickel produced 209,000 tons of nickel, 425,000 tons of copper, 2.7 million troy ounces of palladium, and 664,000 troy ounces of platinum in 2023, the company said in February. Nadezhda Smelter is the group’s largest operation that processes concentrates from two concentrators to produce high-grade matte, a semi-product that is subsequently used for copper and nickel smelting at Nornickel’s facilities in the Murmansk region.
Nadezhda Smelter produces matte via the process called flash smelting, which involves the treatment of sulfide minerals — natural compounds of copper, nickel, and sulfur — using the heat generated during their melting. This method is more energy-efficient compared to other non-ferrous metal concentrate processing technologies.
Nornickel initiated a major overhaul of the flash smelting furnace in May. The new furnace, designed with fundamentally different parameters through modifications of its components, promises enhanced productivity. Currently, over 2,000 workers are engaged in the construction of the new furnace, with the entire project expected to be completed within 60 days. Following the construction, Nornickel will conduct trial smelting before the furnace is fully operational, the company said.
The operation of the new furnace is anticipated to significantly boost the output of non-ferrous metals at Nadezhda Smelter and across Nornickel’s operations, thereby substantially increasing the company’s revenues, Nornickel said in the press release. 
