Press Releases

On April 28-29, Acron Vice President Sergey Fedorov visited the Perm branch office of Verkhnekamsk Potash Company (VPC). Fedorov is in charge of development of the Talitsky area of the Verkhnekamsk potassium-magnesium salt deposit. A series of meetings was held, with LLC Genesis-Perm on drilling work and geophysical surveys at the site, and with LLC NPF Geoprognoz on processing supplementary reconnaissance data and preparing the design premises for a conditions feasibility study. Fedorov also met with top managers and chief project engineers of the Urals Scientific Research and Design Institute Gallurgiya (Perm), which earlier developed a plan to survey the Talitsky area of the Verkhnekamsk potassium-magnesium salt deposit. Fedorov informed them that LLC Genesis-Perm has completed its part of the prospecting, drilled five exploration wells and performed analysis of the collected data. The Urals branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences finished seismic and electrical exploration and performed digitalization and interpretation of the obtained data. Perm State University developed an environmental monitoring programme to be approved by Permnedra. All the work is proceeding according to the terms established in the license agreement. In April 2010, the Russian Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency (Rosnedra) made changes to the license agreement in response to a request by VPC. Based on a thorough prospect data analysis and in order to perform additional research, the Company asked Rosnedra to change the date for the mine commissioning from 2014 to the end of 2016. The deadline for reaching design capacity was also extended to mid-2018 from 2016. These changes reflect the fact that the original license terms were established for a company with existing facilities and infrastructure, while VPC had to build everything from scratch. Despite these revisions, the Company shall continue working at its current pace in order to complete the huge volume of preliminary work.
OJSC Gallurgiya is currently involved in pre-design analysis necessary to proceed with design of the mine and the ore dressing factory at the Talitsky area. Gallurgiya has already developed general engineering solutions for the Talitsky mining and processing complex (MPC).
VPC signed agreements with OJSC Gallurgiya amounting to tens of millions roubles for development of initial conditions and documentation to perform a feasibility study of final conditions. Preparations for the full-scale design of the Talitsky MPC are underway. This year the Company will prepare the initial conditions to make a technical project and engineering design of the mining site and tailing facilities, draw a plan for wellbores and drill them, and construct a road to the site.
According to the terms of the license agreement, the Company should finish the prospecting work, feasibility study and confirmation of reserves no later than February 2012, and prepare a technical project and receive approval from the state expert review board no later than February 2014.
VPC worked with the Berezniki and Usolsky regional administrations to study six possible locations for the mining site and three locations for the saline and sludge dump. In January 2010, the mayor of Berezniki approved a land plot selection act for construction of the mining site, saline and sludge dump. Upon approval of the act some conditions were established, including receipt of a sanitary and epidemiological finding. That work is in progress.
Acron Vice President Sergey Fedorov met with the new mayor of Berezniki, Sergey Dyakov, at the city administration building to discuss the project’s progress. Director General of OJSC Gallurgiya Arkadiy Grinberg, Director of the VPC Perm branch office Leonid Spekhov and other executives also took part in the meeting. Company representatives briefed the audience about the Company's accomplishments and short-term plans and were pleasantly surprised with the mayor's awareness of the Company's work at the Talitsky site. Dyakov was interested in work of VPC's subdivision in Berezniki and in the demographic analysis the Company conducted in the region, and even gave advice on hydrogeology and drain cleaning. As a miner to a fellow miner, Fedorov presented Dyakov with an icon of the Great Martyr Varvara, the patron saint of miners, as well as books about Velikiy Novgorod and Acron.
Cooperation issues were also discussed at the meeting. VPC, along with other companies in the region, plans to participate in the social and economic development of Berezniki, where several thousand MPC workers will live. VPC is committed to improving the standard of living of local residents. In that respect, the goals of the city administration and the Company are in alignment.