OREANDA-NEWS. On December 15 Moscow hosted a working meeting between Vladimir Verkhovtsev (Director General of ARMZ Uranium Holding Co.) and Alexei Kokorin (Governor of Kurgan Region), during which the latter filed a proposal to consider the possibility of creating an industrial park on the basis of Dalur JSC (forming part of the control loop of ARMZ Uranium Holding Co.). The Governor proposed to turn the uranium mining subsidiary of the Rosatom State Corporation into a basic enterprise for creating a number of up-to-date industrial production facilities.

The prerequisite for such a decision was the visit of Alexey Kokorin to the industrial site of Dalur JSC related to the ‘start-up’ of an end product drying complex and getting to a new quality level of work by the enterprise. The complex enabled to supply uranium products in accordance with the highest international standards. In the framework of the meeting, the Company’s Management emphasized that Dalur is one of the most efficient of the domestic uranium mining companies, whose products compete by cost, and now by quality with the world's leading manufacturers. Furthermore, the method of in-situ underground leaching is an environmentally friendly one and do not involve harm to the environment and personnel.

Dalur’s prospects are associated not only with the development of uranium mining. One may call the Scandium project, which is being implemented on the basis of the enterprise, as a technological breakthrough. In October the technology of accompanying extraction of scandium (scandium carbonate with purity of 99.9%) developed by specialists of the ARMZ-VNIPIpromtekhnologii Engineering Center shown positive results.

The today’s cost of scandium in the global market ranges from 1,500 to 2,000 US dollars per kg. According to experts, the future production on an industrial scale may reach 10 tons of expensive metal per year. The revenue from this project will amount to 130 million rubles already at the first stage and it can be increased by 4-5 times in the future. The release of commercial scandium by ARMZ is scheduled to 2017.

Alexey Kokorin pointed out the success of the industrial company. The Governor of Kurgan Region was pleasantly surprised with what he had seen. He emphasized that Dalur JSC is one of the major taxpayers in the region and mentioned the fact that next year the company planned to increase its contributions to the budget by 200 million rubles. Analyzing the industrial potential of the enterprise, the Governor proposed to create an.industrial park on the basis of Dalur where the most advanced technologies would be used. He addressed that proposal to the Management of ARMZ and also instructed governmental entities (regional departments of industry, energy and economy development and labor) to consider the possibility of creating such a project.

The parties discussed practical steps of the project implementation during their meeting in Moscow. The Governor also handed a letter requesting to provide assistance and designate a representative from the company to participate in working activities. ARMZ approved the idea, and Alexander Burutin (Advisor of the CEO, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dalur JSC) became the company’s representative.

Alexander Burutin: “We are certainly ready to support the initiative. Today Dalur JSC is a young and fast-growing company whose production and resource base in place guarantees efficient operation of the company for several decades. The availability of space and developed infrastructure, great scientific and technical potential make all this site an excellent platform for the establishment of a cluster of industrial enterprises. Moreover, our experts in cooperation with the Government of Zabaikalye Territory realize a project of the industrial park in Krasnokamensk, where the anchor enterprise is PPGHO PJSC (subsidiary of ARMZ). We are ready to use this experience in Dalur’s project as well”.