Russian banks to finance $7.8bn Siberia platinum mine

Russian banks VTB and VEB will provide Russian Platinum, backed by entrepreneur Musa Bazhaev, with financing for the development of the Chernogorskoye platinum group metals deposit in Siberia, they said in a statement on Thursday.

Total investment in the project is estimated at 570 billion roubles ($7.8 billion), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Russian Platinum is cooperating on the project with Nornickel, the world’s largest producer of palladium, which will provide access to infrastructure near the deposit and will be responsible for the sale of metals produced there.

The first stage of the project – the construction of a mine with an annual capacity to produce 7 million tonnes of ore – will require 190 billion roubles ($2.6 billion), VTB and VEB said in the statement.

($1 = 73.1250 roubles)

(By Dmitry Antonov and Polina Devitt; Editing by David Goodman and David Holmes)