Representatives from the Finnish company Outotec have arrived in Nikel to study the smelting process at the Pechenganikel factory and discuss possible ways of modernizing the production, Norilsk Nikel’s web site reads.
The main purpose of the planned modernization is to increase both the economic and ecological efficiency of the production, the company states.
This is the first time in course of more than a decade that modernization of the production in Nikel is up for discussion. Foreign experts visited the plant in the 1990’s and gave their recommendations for reconstruction, but so far, no changes have been done.
Norilsk Nickel’s smelter in Nikel, along with the roasting plant in nearby Zapolyarny, in 2008 emissioned near 100 thousand tons of sulphur dioxide. That is five times more than the entire Norwegian emissions of sulphur dioxide.
Read also: Norilsk Nickel says it will boost production, cut emissions
Norilsk Nikel was exluded from the Norwegian Government’s Pension Fund, the so-called oil wealth fund, in November 2009, because the damages the company is afflicting on the environment clashes with the fund’s ethic guidelines.
In December the same year, Norilsk Nickel informed Norwegian authorities that they backed out from an agreement with the Nordic Investment Bank on improvement of the environmental impact from the smelter in Nikel on the Kola Peninsula. Norway was supposed to provide a grant of 270 million NOK (€32 million) and a 10-year loan of $30 million from the Nordic Investment Bank.
Outotec is a leading global provider of process solutions, technologies and services for the mining and metallurgical industries, the company’s web site reads. The company’s head office is located in Espoo, Finland.
