OREANDA-NEWS. March 05, 2011. OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (hereinafter – MMC Norilsk Nickel or the Company) will decrease SO2 emissions (main factor of the Company’s industrial pollution) as part of program aimed at gradual decrease of air emissions of Company’s metallurgical production facilities located in Norilsk (Polar Division of the Company), reported the press-centre of Norilsk Nickel.

In order to implement the program, MMC Norilsk Nickel posted international tender for a set of works related to implementation of state-of-the-art technologies of SO2 recovery at Copper Plant (CP) and Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant (NMP).

Once implemented new technologies shall provide for recovery of at least 95% of SO2 from CP and NMP waste gases. Together with on-going project of NMP capacity enhancement and liquidation of agglomeration and smelting areas at Nickel Plant, this shall result in dramatic decrease of SO2 emissions to the atmosphere.

It is planned that the contractor chosen via tender shall perform the following:

Construction and installation of waste gases deep dust separation systems at flash furnace of NMP and Vanukov furnace of CP.

Construction of waste gases SO2 concentration units at flash furnace of NMP and Vanukov furnace of CP.

Overhaul of sulphur utilization units at NMP and CP so that all of the concentrated SO2 can be processed;

Construction of converter waste gases cooling and dust separation system, converter waste gases SO2 concentration unit, and concentrated SO2 feed to interim storage tanks and sulphur utilization units system.

The annual volume of commercial sulphur production in Polar Division of the Company shall be over 900 thousand tons. Furthermore, the waste gases shall also be converted into sulphuric acid for copper and nickel electrolysis shops, and into sulphur-containing reagent for concentration area. The installation of waste gases dust cleaning systems shall provide for significant decrease of non-ferrous metals emissions.

The works shall be performed on the “turn-key” basis. Deadline for submitting a technical and commercial proposal is 30.06.2011. The works at both plants should start on 01.12.2011.