OREANDA-NEWS.  September 17, 2014. Following the conclusion of the meeting of Russia-Chinese High Intergovernmental Commission on investment cooperation chaired by First Deputy Prime-Minister of Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov and Vice Premier of State Council of the People’s Republic of China Zhang Gaoli Norilsk Nickel received 12 proposals regarding potential co-operation on its Chita copper project from Chinese companies.

Commenting on the presentation of the project and consultations with potential Chinese partners Norilsk’s First Deputy CEO Pavel Fedorov commented “We are thrilled to see the level of interest of our potential Chinese partners in the project. Given that Chita copper project is conveniently located next to its target market the interest is high and to date we received 12 various proposals, including proposals to off-take the production, finance the development and as well as broader strategic cooperation proposals. We will carefully assess the proposal to agree on the optimal form and structure of potential cooperation”.

Bystrinsky MPC is located in Zabaikalsky Krai and is classified by the Company as a Tier 1 asset. It is planned to commission a processing facility in 2017 to treat up to 10 million tons of ore from the local copper, iron and gold deposit. Norilsk Nickel plans to invest approximately USD 1.1 billion into project development between 2014 and 2017.