OREANDA-NEWS. UC RUSAL (SEHK: 486; Euronext: RUSAL/RUAL; Moscow Exchange: RUALR), a leading global aluminium producer, announces that it has completed a transaction with JSC "Fund for support of investment projects in the Republic of Komi" to obtain the remaining 20% stake in OJSC Boksit Timana ('Timan'). Following the completion of this transaction, RUSAL now owns 100% of the mine.

The transaction was carried out as part of RUSAL's asset consolidation programme, which is aimed at securing safe supplies of raw materials to the Company's aluminium plants.

'Currently, RUSAL is implementing a strategy to become self-sufficient in raw materials. Timan is a strategically important RUSAL asset in Russia, that makes 30% of the country's bauxite deposits. Moreover, Timan bauxite is of high quality and can be mined at low cost in an open pit. This deal has been accomplished following several years of negotiation and addresses the requirements of both parties,' Yakov Itskov, the head of RUSAL's Alumina division, commented.

OJSC Boksit Timana is located in the Republic of Komi, Russia. The mine has a rich Vezhayu-Vorykvin deposit of bauxites (a part of the Middle Timan Bauxite deposit), estimated at 260 mln tonnes, with annual bauxite production capacity estimated at around 3 million tonnes per year. The bauxite is used for alumina production at the Urals and Bogoslovsk refineries. Timan employs more than 500 people.