OREANDA-NEWS. On October 16, 2007 OAO Karelsky Okatysh , part of the mining division of OAO Severstal has won an exploration and production license for the South Korpangsky area of the Korpangskoye iron ore deposit, reported the press-centre of Severstal.

The auction, organized by the Russian Agency for the Use of Subsoil, took place on Tuesday October 16, 2007 in Petrozavodsk, Russia.

The license will be issued for 20 years and is extendable. The area’s reserves, including deposits South Korpangskoye, North Kostomuksha and Korpangiyoki, are estimated at 80 million tons. The average magnetite iron content (Fe mg) exceeds 27%002E.

The South Korpangskoye deposit has already been explored and the properties of ores have been studied. The company plans to begin the development of the Western area of the South Korpangskoye deposit, with reserves estimated at 15 million tons of ore, by 2010. Anticipated production of ore from this area will make up some 2-2,5 million tons per annum.

South Korpangsky is near the Kostomuksha deposit, which is currently a major raw material base for Karelsky Okatysh. Kostomuksha has been explored to a depth of 600 m, with a magnetite ore content of about 1 billion tons.

March 2007 saw the beginning of production and processing of iron ore from the Korpangskoye deposit whose reserves are estimated at 320 million tons. It is located in the northern part of the Kostomuksha ore deposit (5 km north of the Kostomuksha deposit). The right to use the subsoil of the Korpangskoye deposit is vested in Karelsky Okatysh based on the results of the tender held in July 2001 by the RF Ministry of Natural Resources and the Government of the Republic of Karelia. The license is valid for 20 years and it is extendable.