Rosatom asked partners from China to work on the Pavlovskoye field project

Rosatom is in negotiations with Chinese NFC and Powerite to design a factory for the Pavlovsk lead-zinc deposit on Novaya Zemlya. This move comes after Rosatom was left without European partners and foreign funding due to sanctions. The project will be developed from scratch, and the companies will also assist in reorienting metal exports to Asia. The partnership between the two companies is considered logical by analysts, as China is a leader in technologies for extracting precious and rare earth metals. Additionally, Chinese shipyards have the capacity to build floating factories, which may be necessary for the archipelago.
NFC Corporation serves as an international contractor for non-ferrous metals mining projects. According to its website, the company has significant experience collaborating with Kazakhstan. NFC has invested $90 million in mining projects in the republic in recent years. Additionally, Kazakh media reported that NFC is involved in constructing a copper plant for the Baimsky project of Kaz Minerals in Russia.

ARMZ began considering the development of the lead-zinc deposit on Novaya Zemlya in 2012, but the work was delayed. In 2021, ARMZ reported completing the JORC mineral resource assessment. The assessment estimated 55 million tons of ore with an average equivalent zinc content of 4%.
Simultaneously, zinc resources were estimated at 2 million tons, lead at 430 thousand tons, and silver at 30.3 million ounces. The planned launch is expected in 2026.

A consortium of Finnish companies has developed a preliminary design for a floating concentrator for the field, with a construction cost estimated at $133 million as of December 2021. The project secured project financing agreements worth $250 million from a syndicate of European banks, and also signed a 15-year off-take contract worth $5 billion with Swedish company Boliden. However, in 2022, European companies, including equipment supplier Metso Outotec, declined to cooperate on the project due to sanctions restrictions.
According to Natalya Potapova, a representative of the First Mining Company, the floating factory project had to be abandoned in 2023. ARMZ representatives clarified that the option with a floating factory was only a sketch. In 2022, Glavgosexpertiza issued a positive conclusion on the design documentation of the onshore mining and processing plant and the port complex under the VNIPIpromtekhnologii project, which is part of ARMZ.
According to Mikhail Burmistrov, head of Infoline-Analytics, collaborating with Chinese companies is a logical step due to China's expertise in developing non-ferrous and rare earth metal deposits. Additionally, there is a high demand for these products, which may be partially directed towards China. Meanwhile, analysts interviewed by Kommersant believe that Rosatom and its Chinese partners will probably need to revisit the concept of a floating factory. This option is considered more environmentally friendly and economically viable for construction in the Arctic zone, where construction periods are extremely short, there are problems with permafrost, and logistical restrictions exist. Additionally, China has large factory capacities where modules for a floating factory can be built.