Nornickel has begun construction of the third start-up complex of the Talnakh Concentrator (TOF-3) in Norilsk. After it is commissioned, the plant's capacity will almost double — from 10 to 18 million tonnes of ore per year, which will make it possible to send the entire volume of ore from the Talnakh mines for processing. The project is scheduled to run through 2030–2031.
Construction has already entered the active phase. The main work is concentrated in the main building, which will house the grinding, flotation and thickening departments. More than 240 specialists are working around the clock — at peak, their number will increase to 850. A total of 66 tonnes of steel structures and 126 tonnes of column reinforcement structures have been installed, and part of the foundations for the mill equipment has been laid. In addition, a receiving hopper, five transport galleries, a tailings storage facility, a water circulation system, and a weigh station for 150 dump trucks with a carrying capacity of up to 100 tonnes will be built.
In parallel with the construction, the operating second start-up complex of the plant passed a historic milestone — it processed its 100 millionth tonne of ore. Investments in TOF-2 amounted to more than 47 billion rubles, and as a result the plant's capacity increased from 7.6 to 11.2 million tonnes per year.
After construction work in the main building of TOF-3 is completed, equipment installation will begin: three mills, a gravity complex consisting of 16 Nelson units, 106 flotation machines, two thickeners with a diameter of 50 m, and about 100 pumping units. The third complex was designed identically to the second — this ensures interchangeability of the lines. Initially, the project called for imported equipment, but it was fully replaced with Russian equipment — three domestic machine-building companies have already begun manufacturing according to the approved documentation.
Read more materials on the topic:
- Never built this fast before: a car plant for producing vehicles of the new Jeland brand was assembled in eight months
- Construction of a specialized technology park for the aluminum industry will begin in Ingushetia
- A new 65 nm chip manufacturing plant almost appeared in Russia — the project fell through because of funding