Moscow, February 6, 2012 - OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (MMC Norilsk Nickel or the Company) announces the start of design works on Bugdainskiy Mining and Concentration Plant (Bugdainskiy MCP). 

The contract with designing company was signed on December 9, 2011.

On August 01, 2011, the Company sent an official request to seven leading designing and engineering companies to provide technical and commercial proposals for the design of Bugdainskiy MCP. On October 11, 2011, CJSC TOMC-engineering was chosen the winner. 

Delivery of project documentation to the client is carried out in separate stages and will be completed by November 2012. The deadline for delivering project documentation after it passed the state expertise is May 10, 2013.

The operations at Bugdainskiy MPC are expected to start at the end 2016, in 2017 the production is forecasted to reach design capacity. Additionally, it is planned to construct 36 kilometers of railways and roads which will provide access to the MCP.
Bugdainskiy MCP will produce 16 million tons of ore a year and process it into molybdenum concentrate, containing approximately 9 thousand tons of molybdenum.

According to Yuri Filippov, acting First Deputy General Director MMC Norilsk Nickel "Molybdenum is an interesting metal, just like nickel it is primarily used for alloy steel production. Although these metals are not interchangeable, we have established relationships with the industry's key buyers, which gives us a reason to believe that we will be able to market molybdenum efficiently. Molybdenum was also recently introduced to the London Metal Exchange, which improves pricing transparency, is beneficial for the overall quality of the Company's financial and economic analysis and improves liquidity".

Construction of Bugdainskiy MPC will be the second stage of implementation of the Company's project in Chita.      

The operations will start at the neighboring Bystrinskoe deposit first. Between 32 and 34 mil.  Rubles will be invested in construction of Bystrinskoe MPC and building access roads for it.

Commissioning of the MPC is also planned for 2016. The ore production is expected to be at 10 mil. tons a year, the ore will be further processed to produce 62 thousand tons of copper in concentrate, 6.3 tons of gold in concentrate, 2.1 mil. tons of iron in iron concentrate.

The investments associated with developing mineral resources of Zabaikalskiy region are carried out within the framework of the public-private partnership scheme. The partners are: Investment Fund of the Russian Federation and MMC Norilsk Nickel. In total, 104.597 bil. Rubles will be invested in the projects. The funds allocated by MMC Norilsk Nickel will amount to over 80 bil. Rubles, out of which 72 358.04 mil. will be allocated towards independent development of two deposits - Bystrinskoe and Bugdainskoe.

ABOUT MMC NORILSK NICKEL

MMC Norilsk Nickel, a company incorporated under the laws of the Russian Federation, is the largest diversified mining and metals company in Russia, the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium and one of the world's largest producers of platinum, rhodium, copper and cobalt. In addition to this, MMC Norilsk Nickel produces a large number of other by-products, including gold, silver, tellurium, selenium, iridium and ruthenium.

The key production units of the Company's group in Russia are at the Polar and Kola Peninsulas. MMC Norilsk Nickel international assets include operations in Finland, USA, Australia, Botswana and South Africa.

MMC Norilsk Nickel's shares are traded at MICEX-RTS. ADR's on the Company's shares are traded on the other the counter market in the US and at the London and Berlin stock exchanges.