OREANDA-NEWS. June 05, 2012.  OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (hereinafter “MMC Norilsk Nickel”, or “the Company”, or “the Group”) offers its congratulations upon the Ecologist’s Day to all those working for the sake of the environmental protection and wishes further success in their important activities. On this day, the Company summarizes the results of the environmental activities performance in 2011.

Companies of Norilsk Nickel Group carry our works aimed to minimize the production impact on the environment.

In 2011, the Company continued implementing a range of actions in order to reduce pollutants emissions into the atmosphere and discharges with sewage waters, to design and construct treatment facilities, to decrease waste generating and burying.

The Polar Division’s pollutants emissions in 2011 were in line with the permit. In comparison with 2010, the emissions of solid particles were reduced by 448.12 tons (4.1%) due to actions involving modernization, maintenance repairs and overhauls of existing dust and gas purifying equipment. Furthermore, the most significant decrease in emissions was achieved as to the following components: metal-containing dust – by 8.4%, nickel oxide – by 8.6%, copper oxide – by 14.9%, and lead – by 13.2%.

In 2011, the reconstruction of slag-cleaning furnace No. 4 at Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant was completed. As part of the reconstruction, dust and gas cleaning equipment was replaced with more effective one. Thus, on the cement production clinker line, an air-quenching cooler’s electrical filter was replaced with a modern efficient pulse-jet bag filter that allowed reducing the cement dust emissions by 900 tons per annum.

The Polar Division implemented an air quality monitoring system at route and under-plume sites in Norilsk, in order to regulate pollutants emissions in the period of unfavorable weather conditions, such as: temperature inversion, zero wind, etc. During 2011, 215 relevant actions responding to unfavorable weather conditions were implemented by the Polar Division in its metallurgical plants.

Kola MMC achieved emissions reduction for sulphur dioxide by 5.37% and for solid particles by 0.14%, due to decreasing sulphur dioxide emissions on the site of Monchegorsk and commissioning the pelletizing sector’s first line on the site of Zapolyarny in Q4 2011.

MMC Norilsk Nickel has developed and implemented the water conservation and protection action plan. As compared to 2010, the total volume of water consumed by the Group in 2011 was reduced by 21.7 mln. m3 (5%). Water withdrawal from surface water reservoirs was reduced by 26.2 mln. m3 (10.4%), and from underground water reservoirs – by 0.96 mln. m.3 (3.2%).

In general, the Group decreased the volume of water used by 81 mln. m3 (5.7%) in comparison with 2010.

In 2011, the Company continued optimizing the water consumption and decreasing effluents discharge into surface water bodies.

Compared to 2010, the companies of the Group reduced the total amount of sewage water discharged in 2011 by 11.4% (i.e. 18.1 mln. m3); the discharge of effluents facility-treated to standard quality was increased by 242 thousand m3 (87.5%).

In 2011, waste generation by the companies of the Group was reduced in total by 5,168.8 thousand tons (11.2%) in comparison with 2010. Over 90% of production wastes generated in the course of the Company’s operations are classified as hazard class V wastes (virtually environmentally non-hazardous).

In 2011 comparing to 2010, the amount of wastes generated by the Polar Division was reduced by 3,834.1 tons (equal to 10.8%). The waste stored at the Polar Division’s own facilities amounted to 19,523.04 thousand tons, which is 1.7% less than in 2010.

In 2011, new facilities were built to expand Lebyazhye tailing dump and to ensure environmentally safe tails storage. The first start-up facility aimed to use final Talnakh Concentrator’s tailings at Komsomolsky Mine was fully ramped-up. That will allow using about 250 thousand m3 of tails per annum (or 220 thousand tons per annum) for backfilling of the mined-out area. Some work was carried out as to reconstruction of Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant tailing dump.

The total environmental expenses of the Company in 2011 exceeded RUB 17 billion.

For the period of 2004-2011, MMC Norilsk Nickel allocated over RUB 90 billion for environmental issues settlement, including operating costs for environmental protection equipment retrofitting, upgrading and maintenance, as well as capital expenditures on environmental protection.