Russia’s top base metals miner advances emission cuts despite sanctions

Russian mining titan Nornickel has successfully navigated a crucial step towards fulfilling its ambitious environmental program aimed at drastically reducing sulphur dioxide emissions in Norilsk. Despite facing procurement and logistical hurdles due to the fallout from sanctions and the refusal of Western contractors to engage, Nornickel's commitment to environmental stewardship remains unwavering, the miner’s top managers said at a public corporate event held on Friday.

Nornickel unveiled a flagship environmental project last year seeking to diminish sulphur dioxide emissions tenfold by 2027. This initiative, carrying a projected cost of up to $4.3 billion, includes the deployment of sulphur dioxide capture technologies at miner’s Nadezhda and Copper smelters.

Nornickel's journey towards modernizing the Nadezhda Smelter has seen substantial progress, with the establishment of units dedicated to sulphur gas capture, sulphuric acid production, and the neutralization with gypsum and sulphur production. These advancements pave the way for a significant, phased reduction in emissions by 45% in 2024, the company claims.

Despite the challenges, including redesigning the Nadezhda modernization and exploring alternative solutions for the Copper Smelter, Nornickel's resolve in achieving its environmental goals remains firm, its Vice President for Environmental Protection Stanislav Seleznev has said. He reassured that the company is diligently working on viable solutions to fulfill its commitments, particularly for the Copper Smelter where replicating the Nadezhda project is not currently feasible amid western sanctions banning technology exports to Russia.

The investment in the Nadezhda Smelter project is estimated at 180 billion rubles (roughly $2 billion), with the overall program's cost contingent upon the technological solutions Nornickel opts for to bring its vision to fruition.