Experts Discuss Prospects of Dobrovolnoe Deposit in Kurgan Region

Members of the Government of Kurgan Region, heads of supervisory agencies, independent experts, famous scientists, representatives of public organizations, managers of ARMZ Uranium Holding, and JSC Dalur, and, of course, residents of Zverinogolovskoe Settlement, came together to discuss the future of Dobrovolnoe Uranium Deposit in the round-table format. The participants in the meeting discussed not only the plans of developing regional economy but also various social initiatives and projects that JSC Dalur has been successfully implementing in the region.

The meeting with residents was organized by the Government of the Region and the administration of Zverinogolovsky District with support of ARMZ Uranium Holding. The meeting was chaired by Eduard Gusev, Vice Governor and Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Ecology of Kurgan Region. In his remarks he noted that regional authorities were very much interested in the new production facility, which will contribute significantly to development of the economy in the Urals Region, and create new jobs for the municipality.

The first to speak was Viktor Svyatetsky, First Deputy General Director and Executive Director of ARMZ Uranium Holding: “State Corporation Rosatom, of which JSC Atomredmetzoloto and JSC Dalur are a part, is a fully transparent state corporation. One of the most significant issues in our work is provision of honest and straightforward data on our activities. We always explain in much detail the technology and methods of our work, and issues of public and environmental safety. We have come to Zverinogolovsky District to stay, and so we intend to answer all the questions that people might have. We can proudly say that since 1979 when the uranium deposits were discovered in Kurgan Region, we have had no accidents in operating these deposits. I am confident that residents of Zverinogolovskoe, Trud i Znanie and other settlements will soon become our colleagues, who will be proud to say: “We are employees of Rosatom’s recovery division!”

Nikolay Poponin, General Director of JSC Dalur, talked about the economic and social future for Zverinogolovsky District and its residents and the entire Ural Region. He said that in 2016-2040 the enterprise will pay RUB 34.6 bln into the regional budget, of which RUB 25 bln will come from Dobrovolnoe Deposit. By 2018 there will be 38 new jobs created in Zverinogolovskoe with the average monthly salary of RUB 40,000, and by 2026 there will be some 350 new jobs created at the enterprise. “We must also not forget the jobs provided by our contractors. The construction project will need at least 100 people. A total of some 800 people are employed by our partners in Dalmatovsky District alone. We will need at least as many providers of works and services in Zverinogolovskoe,”  Nikolay Poponin said.

Pyotr Polukhin, head of Dolmatovsky District, talked about cooperation with Dalur and the contribution of the enterprise into the development of the region’s social infrastructure. The most important project, he said, was the construction project of a new school building in Uksyanskoe. “This school would not have appeared without Dalur. This is, perhaps, the most significant enterprise in our region. And people in the company think strategically. They live in our district together with their families, parents and children. And they want the quality of our lives to get better, too. In addition to the school, the enterprise financed construction of a gymnasium and a retreat. This means that the company is working strategically, and its projects are aimed at improving the quality of life of its staff, and, accordingly, quality of life of residents in the region,” Mr. Polukhin said.

In 2015-2016, in addition to construction of the school building and the gymnasium Dalur also finances repairs and development of other educational institutions and daycare centers, contributing almost RUB 900,000 in charity to Dalmatovsky and Shumikhinsky Districts. The first social project of the enterprise in Zverinogolovsky District will be the project of repairing a daycare facility, worth RUB 300,000.

Answers to all the questions posed by residents of Zverinogolovskoe were answered by Mikhail Shumilin, Ph.D., D.Sc. (Geol.), Professor and Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, winner of the USSR State Prize; Anatoly Ladeischikov, Chief Geologist of Urals Branch of ZelenogorskGeologiya, Federal State Enterprise of Geological Industry Uralnedra, Honored Geologist of the Russian Federation; Sofya Krasnykh, Member of the Expert Council of the State Commission of Stocks of Mineral Deposits, and Alexander Saltykov, Ph.D. (Geol.), Leading Research Fellow of FSPE VIMS. The specialists responded to all questions residents of Zverinogolovskoe had.

Sergey Vorobyev, Head of the Russian Committee for Nature Inspection of Kurgan Region, said that inspections of Dalur revealed no violations of the current law. In her turn, Svetlana Polonyankina, Director of JSC Atomredmetzoloto for Geology and Use of Natural Resources, listed all the normative acts that uranium-prospecting enterprise must follow and described the stages of controlling its activities. “We have always complied, and will always comply with all the requirements of the current legislation in our surveying and exploring the deposits. Work at every stage is carried out in accordance with projects undergoing state expert assessment. In particular, recovery operations can only start after construction project documentation is approved along with the technical project of developing the deposit, which are currently being surveyed and discussed,” she said.

After completion of the roundtable discussion all the residents of Zverinogolovskoe were invited to tour JSC Dalur to get first-hand knowledge of the enterprise functioning, its safety and occupational health conditions.