Operational performance

One of Nornickel’s core business areas is the production of non‑ferrous and precious metals. The Group has two production divisions: the Polar Division, which mines copper‑nickel sulphide ores at the Norilsk and Kola sites, and the Trans‑Baikal Division, which develops gold‑iron‑copper ores.

The Norilsk site is located on the Taimyr Peninsula in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. This is where the Company’s largest deposits are being developed. This production asset operates a full metals production cycle — from ore mining to the shipment of finished products. Given its location in the Arctic Circle, the site is connected to other regions of the country via the Yenisei River, the Northern Sea Route, and by air.

The Kola site is located on the Kola Peninsula in the Murmansk Region where ore is mined and nickel concentrate is produced. The Kola site serves also as the Company’s nickel refining hub.

The Foreign site hosts a nickel refinery with a total production capacity of up to 65 ktpa of nickel products. The plant processes the Company’s own feedstock as well as nickel‑bearing raw materials from third‑party suppliers.

The Trans‑Baikal Division is located in the Trans‑Baikal Territory of Russia, 500 km away from Chita. The mining and processing plant was launched with commercial operation in 2019. The asset includes open‑pit mining operations and processing facilities with full infrastructure, including a power line, a 227‑km Borzya–Gazimursky Zavod railway line (25% held by Nornickel and 75% by the government), as well as a rotation camp.

Production flow

Mining

Existing deposits:

Talnakhskoye, Oktyabrskoye, Norilsk‑1, Zhdanovskoye, Zapolyarnoye, Tundrovoye, Bystrinskoye

Mines / open pits:

Taimyrsky, Oktyabrsky, Komsomolsky, Skalisty, Mayak, Zapolyarny, Severny, Verkhne‑Ildikansky (open pit), Bystrinsky‑2 (open pit)

The Norilsk site develops the Talnakhskoye and Oktyabrskoye deposits through underground mining at the Taimyrsky, Oktyabrsky, Komsomolsky, Skalisty, and Mayak Mines. The mines employ slicing and room‑and‑pillar methods with the cut‑and‑fill system, with stopes refilled with solidifying backfill mixtures. The Norilsk‑1 deposit is developed by the Zapolyarny Mine through open‑pit and underground mining. Underground mining is carried out through sublevel caving using front ore passes and diesel‑powered self‑propelled equipment.

In 2024, total ore production by the Norilsk site was 20.2 mln t, up 1.0 mln t y‑o‑y (up 5%). High‑grade ore output increased by 9% (+0.6 mln t), while production of cuprous ores decreased by 3.3% (–0.2 mln t). Changes in ore production volumes were due to delayed deliveries of mining equipment. Disseminated ore production increased by 7.1% (+0.5 mln t), as planned under the efficiency improvement programme.

In 2024, the Kola site mined disseminated ores at the following deposits: Zhdanovskoye, Zapolyarnoye, and Tundrovoye. Kola MMC used various ore mining methods. The Zhdanovskoye and Zapolyarnoye deposits use three mining methods: gravity caving with front ore passes, sublevel caving with room‑and‑pillar ore removal, and room‑and‑pillar mining.

In 2024, Kola site produced 7.0 mln t of ore. A decrease in ore production by 3.5% (–0.2 mln t) was due to the suspension of mining operations at the Kotselvaara‑Kammikivi and Semiletka deposits after the Kaula‑Kotselvaara shaft was put on care and maintenance in 2024.

The Trans‑Baikal Division mines gold-iron-copper ores of the Bystrinskoye deposit at the Verkhne-Ildikansky and Bystrinsky-2 mines. In 2024, total ore production was 13.6 mln t, down 1.4 mln t (-9%) y-o-y. Lower ore mining volumes were due to the processing of stockpiled primary and mixed ores at the concentrator.

Concentration

Concentrators

Talnakh Concentrator processes high‑grade, cuprous, and disseminated ores from the Oktyabrskoye and Talnakhskoye deposits to produce nickel‑pyrrhotite and copper concentrates as well as metal‑bearing products. Its key processing stages include crushing, milling, flotation, and thickening. In 2024, Talnakh Concentrator increased its ore processing to 11.4 mln t, up 0.7 mln t y‑o‑y, as a result of efficiency initiatives.

Norilsk Concentrator processes all disseminated ores from the Norilsk‑1 deposit, cuprous and disseminated ores from the Oktyabrskoye and Talnakhskoye deposits, and some metal‑bearing products from Talnakh Concentrator to produce nickel and copper concentrates. Its key processing stages include crushing, milling, flotation, gravity concentration, and thickening. In 2024, Norilsk Concentrator increased its ore processing to 8.5 mln t, up 0.1 mln t y‑o‑y.

The resulting thickened concentrates from Talnakh and Norilsk Concentrators are transported via slurry pipelines to the metallurgical facilities of the Norilsk site for further processing.

Zapolyarny Concentrator processes disseminated ores from Kola MMC deposits. The concentrator produces nickel sulphide concentrate, which is then sold via third parties and shipped to the Norilsk site. In 2024, the concentrator processed 7.0 mln t of ore, down 0.3 mln t y‑o‑y, due to a decline in open‑pit mining of disseminated ore.

Mining and processing plant processes ores from the Bystrinskoye deposit into copper, iron ore, and gold concentrates. Its key processing stages include crushing, milling, flotation, thickening, filtration, and final product packaging. The concentrator has two processing lines. Copper and iron ore concentrates are sold via third parties, while gold concentrates are shipped to the Norilsk site for further processing. In the reporting year, Bystrinsky GOK processed 11.3 mln t of ore, an increase of 0.3 mln t y‑o‑y, as a result of efficiency initiatives.

Smelting

Downstream facilities

• Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant, Norilsk site
• Copper Plant, Norilsk site
• Copper Plant’s metallurgical shop, Norilsk site
• Chemical and metallurgical shop, Kola site
• Refining shop, Kola site
• Nickel tankhouse, Kola site
• Refinery, Foreign site

Production chain

Norilsk site

Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant processes nickel concentrates from concentrators, nickel slag from Copper Plant, pressure‑oxidised sulphide concentrateA hydrometallurgical product of Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant, produced from metal‑bearing material supplied by Talnakh Concentrator., secondary materials, and metal‑bearing feedstock from the Kola site to produce converter matte, which is then shipped to the Kola site.

Copper Plant processes the entire volume of copper concentrates from Talnakh and Norilsk Concentrators, metal‑bearing feed from the Kola site, copper cake from the Foreign site, and gravity concentrate from the Trans‑Baikal Division to obtain copper cathodes, elemental sulphur, and sulphuric acid for the Company’s operational needs. Copper Plant’s metallurgical shop recycles sludge from the copper tankhouses of Copper Plant to produce precious metal concentrates and commercial selenium.

Kola site

The Kola site’s refining facilities process converter matte from the Norilsk siteThe production and processing of own converter matte have been discontinued following the shutdown of the smelting shop in December 2020.. Converter matte is fed into the converter matte separation section, where it undergoes crushing, milling, and flotation to produce copper and nickel concentrates.

A portion of the converter matte, after crushing, is directly shipped to the Foreign site for processing, while the remaining part is milled, subjected to precious metals recovery, and then also sent to the Foreign site.

A hydrometallurgical product of Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant, produced from metal‑bearing material supplied by Talnakh Concentrator.

The resulting copper concentrate is sent to Copper Plant. The nickel concentrate stream is divided, with a portion undergoing magnetic separation and precious metals recovery before being sent to the Foreign site for further processing The remaining portion of the nickel concentrate is treated in the roasting and electric furnace sections to produce tube furnace nickel powder, anodes, and granulated nickel alloy. Anodes are processed using conventional electrorefining technology at the chemical and metallurgical shop to produce cathodes. Tube furnace nickel powder is further processed at the nickel tankhouse using a leaching and electrowinning technology to produce cathodes. Granulated nickel alloy is processed at the nickel carbonyl section to produce pellets and powder.

During the production of nickel cathodes at the chemical and metallurgical shop and the nickel tankhouse, semi‑products with high precious metals content and primary cobalt cake are also obtained. Semi‑products are further processed at the chemical and metallurgical shop to produce precious metal concentrates. Primary cobalt cake is processed at the cobalt section to produce commercial cobalt concentrate and cobalt cathodes.

Foreign site

The refinery uses a sulphuric acid leaching technology that enables high metal recovery rates – over 98%. It processes nickel feedstock supplied by the Kola site (matte and crushed, PGM‑depleted converter matte) as well as feedstocks purchased from third parties (nickel salts). Once leached, copper cake is sent to the Norilsk site, while purified nickel solutions are sent for further processing to produce nickel cathodes, nickel briquettes, powder, salts, as well as salts and solutions of cobalt.

Precious metals produced by Nornickel are refined under tolling agreements by third‑party companies.

Products