Copper company KAZ Minerals has announced that its proposed Baimskaya project in Chukotka, Russia will be delayed by new infrastructure plans for the region.

A multi-party Complex Development Plan (CDP) developed for the Chukotka region was submitted by the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic for approval by the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. It includes infrastructure to be used by the company for the project.

KAZ Minerals will now take responsibility for the CDP for a part of the infrastructure capital costs.

As part of this, the company will now be responsible for sections of a new port facility at Cape Nagloynyn in Chaunskaya Bay, and about a 200km section of the permanent road that leads from the port to the mine site.

Additional construction costs for KAZ Minerals are expected to be around $600m for the infrastructure based on initial estimates obtained from Russian design institutes.

The capital construction budget for the Baimskaya project, along with a revised cost for the tailings storage facility and the impact of an approximate one-year delay to the project schedule, currently is expected to be close to $8bn, the company noted.

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The bankable feasibility study (BFS) is now set for completion in the first half of next year. It is being prepared with an initial mine life of about 20 years based on JORC measured and indicated resources.

KAZ Minerals senior independent director Michael Lynch-Bell said: “The Complex Development Plan for Chukotka submitted today within the Russian Government has resulted in higher infrastructure costs and a delay to the bankable feasibility study.”

Expected to commence production by the end of 2027, the Baimskaya project will have an annual ore processing capacity of 70Mtpa.