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By John Helmer in Moscow Russian state uranium miner now no.2 in control of world uranium resources. The structure for managing and -run capitalizing the mining of uranium in Russia, and Russian uranium mining ventures abroad, is now clear. And also large, as Russia has recently moved into the number-3 spot in the world ranking […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow Oleg Deripaska’s bid to take control of Norilsk Nickel, Russia’s premier mining company, came to an end on Monday at a meetingin Moscow. The meeting, to which Norilsk Nickel controlling shareholder Vladimir Potanin was also summoned, concluded with an unambiguous veto on Deripaska’s ambition to buy a controlling stake in […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow In Robert Louis Stephenson’s version of the way English pirates used to issue shareholder summonses for asset distributions, the Black Spot was a ink-blot, spilled on the page of a bible, and delivered by a blind-man. You could hide from the delivery, but not from the consequences. A second attack […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow The collapse of Mechel’s share price (MTL:US), following a direct attack by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the company and its owner, Igor Zyuzin, for its coking coal price tactics, has generated a market-wide apprehension that strong, and stronger, measures are in store for mill profits and their proprietors’ health. […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow Mechel metal & mining group threatened by price-rigging charge. There is an old Russian expression that the only way to run anything is “sknutom i pryanikom” — with the club or the cake. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was therefore doing what comes traditionally when, yesterday in a provincial river town, […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow On most indicators the first full financial report issued since Sergei Vybornov took command of Alrosa in February 2007 indicates modest retreat. Sales totalled Rb90.7 billion; converted to US dollars at the December 31, 2007, rate, this is equivalent to $3.7 billion. The result marks a 4% decline in Alrosa […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow MOSCOW – It is the clash of the titans of the global nickel, aluminum, copper, bauxite, cobalt and platinum markets – Vladimir Potanin’s Norilsk Nickel, Russia’s largest mining company, versus Oleg Deripaska’s United Company Rusal, the world’s biggest aluminum producer. Deripaska, Russia’s richest man, is seeking to take over Norilsk, […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow Eurochem, Russia’s diversified fertilizerproducer owned by Andrei Melnichenko, and still unlisted, has unveiled a series of ambitious plans to challenge Russia’s two largest potash miners, Uralkali (URKA:RU) and Silvinit (SILV:RU). According to Eurochem sources, the company will move from zero now to planned production of 2.3 million tonnes of potash […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow Lundin looks set for replacement on the Ozernoye base metals project. Lundin Mining Corporation (ticker LMC:US) is adamant that it will say nothing at all about its two-year old zinc and lead project in Russia, one of the largest in the world. Speculation that Lundin, a Canadian listed and Swedish […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow Russians go to court for to oust CEO Dudley. In the middle of 17th century Paris, Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac (that’s the real one, not the 19th century stage character), wrote a fantasy about a voyage to the moon. To get there, he describes several contrivances, in addition to his […]