Kommersant reported that Russian mining and steel group Mechel wants to buy the Kureinsky section in Kuzbass, which borders with Southern Kuzbass Sibirginsky open pit mine from Evraz and OJSC Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works.

As per report, the Kureinsky section is the chief asset of coal company Kazankovskaya which belongs to MMK and Evraz group. Its co-owners believe the section's development to be unprofitable, although a deal might occur only next year.

First and foremost, the companies need to convince the Russian Federal Subsurface Resources Agency to change the terms of the license and reassign it to a subsidiary of Kazankovskaya since Mechel does not need its second asset. Kazankovskaya has already made several attempts to alter the terms of the license, but it has been rejected each time for various reasons. Now, according to Kommersant's sources, the company is preparing a new appeal to Rosnedra asking that it shift the main timeframes of work at the deposit by five to six years.

Combined reserves at the Kureinsky section are estimated at 365 million tonnes of coal while recoverable coking coal reserves are roughly 60 million tonnes.

Source - Kommersant

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