Russian mining giant Alrosa is sticking to its forecast production of 34-35 million carats for 2022 despite sanctions and banking restrictions imposed on it by the US and the EU, IDEX Online reports.
According to the independent Russian news agency Interfax, Alrosa’s CEO Sergei Ivanov said: “I think we are on track and so far, despite certain difficulties, we are working exactly according to plan in the first half of the year, somewhere in this range. Interest in our products is high. New companies are emerging that are now interested in tapping the niche left [after the departure of some customers].”
He added that production at the Aikhal mine and Zarnitsa pipe was in full swing, after having been “mothballed or scaled down during the pandemic,” according to the report. “We are trying to maximize production based on current market conditions. We are not reducing productivity anywhere,” he said. Plans to re-open Mir, the mine which saw a fatal flooding accident take the lives of eight miners in 2017 are still “under consideration.”
