Black Iron starts obtaining permits for ore mining in Kryvyi Rih

Canadian mining company Black Iron Inc. with assets in Ukraine has begun the process of obtaining the necessary permits to mine iron ore at the Shymanovske deposit in Kryvyi Rih. The company’s subsidiary, Shymanovske Steel LLC, has already applied for open-pit mining in the northern part of the open pit,Interfax-Ukraine reports.

The large-scale open pit is planned to measure 660 m by 390 m with a depth of up to 80 m. Annual production is expected to reach 4.5 million tons of ore. The total volume of stripping operations will be 5.13 million cubic meters, of which 1.31 million cubic meters will be ore.

The project is of strategic importance to the company, but the key challenge is to obtain the land plot, which is currently under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Negotiations with the ministry have already led to a preliminary agreement on the amount of compensation for this plot.

Black Iron also emphasizes the importance of the existing infrastructure in the region, which includes access to electricity, railways, and ports. This will significantly speed up the project’s implementation to the production stage.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Black Iron Inc. acquired the rights to the Shymanivske deposit in 2010, but subsequently faced a number of problems during its implem

entation. In 2013, the largest Ukrainian mining and metallurgical group Metinvest acquired a 49% stake in the project for $20 million, but later withdrew from the cooperation.

The expected capital investment in the launch of the first stage of the project is $452 million, and the second stage – $364 million. The Shymanovske deposit has the potential to become an important source of iron ore, especially given its close proximity to large mining and metallurgical enterprises, including ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih.