Vostokugol-Dikson Coal Mine

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Vostokugol-Dikson Coal Mine is a proposed coal mine in Dikson, Taimyr Dolgan-Nenets, Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Vostokugol-Dikson Coal Mine	Dikson, Taimyr Dolgan-Nenets, Krasnoyarsk, Russia	73.5072265, 80.5350454 (approximate)

The map below shows the approximate location of the coal mine:

Loading map...

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Project Type	Opening Year	Closing Year
Proposed	Permitted	New	2024	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
5	–	–	Surface	Open Pit	–	60*	*

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
69	–	–	Malolemberovsky, Nizhnelemberovsky	Anthracite	–	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Vostokugol-Dikson LLC	AEON Corporation	Russia

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the GEM April 2024 Global Coal Mine Tracker dataset.

Background

The VostokUgol-Dikson Coal Mine is a proposed surface coal mine near the village of Dikson, in the Taimyr Dolgan-Nenets district, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Russia.

The cluster has two different coal sections, Malolemberovsky and Nizhnelemberovsky.

Ownership

VostokUgol-Dikson gained its first license in Taymyr in 2014 and has since been granted additional extraction licenses. The company has been conducting geological exploration since 2016.

Historically, VostokUgol-Dikson (formerly Arctic Mining Company) was owned by a businessman Dmitry Bosov through a company called Alltech. Following the death of Dmitry Bosov in May 2020, the ownership in the project company was transferred to his family. In May 2021, the businessman Roman Trotsenko through his company AEON bought 50% in VostokUgol-Dikson from Bosov's heirs. This secured Trotsenko's stake at 100% as he previously bought 50% from Bosov's ex-partner Aleksandr Isaev.

Trotsenko's AEON owns another coal mine in Taymyr Syradasaysky Coal Mine.

Background and Status

This project was first proposed as part of the execution of a decree by the President of Russia to increase the cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route to 80 million tonnes by 2024.

The licence for the Malolemberovsky section was obtained in 2017. In the end of 2018, the Nizhnelemberovsky section was opened with planned production start date in the end of 2019. In 2019 another licence was obtained for 'Lemberovsky square', bordering with the Nizhnelemberovsky section. In August 2019, Coal India, the largest coal company in India, has expressed interest in partnering with VostokСoal-Dikson, including joint participation in its production.

Russia's 'Programme for Coal Industry Development up to 2035' (from June 2020) referred to an investment project to develop the Malolemberovsky and Nizhnelemberovsky sections, with a planned capacity up to 30 million tonnes by 2026. However the company revised the plan stating that they plan to produce 19 million tonnes by 2024. Under the new ownership from mid-2020, the plan has been revised to 1 million tonnes by 2023 and 5 million tonnes by 2025.

However the project faced delays and the former owner Dmitry Bosov was already planning to sell the project in early 2020 before his death in May that year. The project faced some challenges with respect to its licenses and environmental issues, as well as allegations of illegal production (see below). It appears that the situation has become critical in the end of 2019 / early 2020.

As of October 2022, the status of the project under the new ownership was not known and the company's website was not functional.

A source from December 2022 referred to drilling and exploration works to be conducted in early 2023 at Nizhnelemberovsky section as well as at Syradasaysky Coal Mine, to confirm the quantum of geological reserves. In July 2023, a media source referred to the project as being in exploration and feasibility study phase.

Environmental issues

In 2017, the company was sued after the State Environmental Monitoring Agency, Rosprirodnadzor, discovered illegal mining. About 70,000 tonnes of extracted coal was stored on site. In addition, more than 180,000 tonnes were exported in a complex logistical operation in winter of 2017.

The mining in the remote Taymyr has also attracted the attention of the Federal Security Service (FSB). In April 2019, a lawsuit was fined on the grounds of illegal exports. The Agency demanded a fine of 2 billion roubles, but in June 2019, the Moscow arbitrary court ultimately ruled a fine of 600 million roubles. The mining company announced that it would appeal the verdict.

Later in 2019, the authorities stated that the project's territory falls within the Big Arctic Reserve and the project's documentation and the licenses would have to be amended and re-approved. This was also contested in court.

Transport

The project anticipated the construction of two deep-water ports with year-round shipments supported by icebreakers in winter. The ports Chaika and Severny, both to be located slightly south of Dikson, were anticipated to handle up to 20 million tonnes per year. However the terminals are located within areas strictly regulated by environmental legislation.

The Federal Ministry of Natural Resources long rejected the company’s construction plans as the assets would be located too close to the borders of the Big Arctic Reserve. The planned ports are located only few hundred meters from the protected Bay of Meduza, a part of the Big Arctic Reserve.

Opposition

The north-western parts of the Taymyr Peninsula are covered by vulnerable tundra land and the mine faces local and environmental opposition.

Environmentalists have stated that "developing new mega coal projects in such an ecologically sensitive area is 'madness.' Given that the project is expanding its boundaries to the Natural reserve area, environmentalists considered the project illegal. Moreover, the project has many negative impacts on biodiversity. Greenpeace Russia also opposes these plans, commenting that the mine is based only 1km from the nature reserve.

Meanwhile, local residents, of which there are 500, have raised their concerns, stating that bears spend most of their time on floating sea ice but recently they have noticed the ice melts quicker than usual. Therefore bears spend the summer months on the mainland, close to their homes.

• Owner: Vostokugol-Dikson LLC
• Parent: AEON Corporation
• Location: Near Dikson, Taimyr Dolgan-Nenets district, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Russia
• GPS Coordinates: 73.5072265, 80.5350454 (approximate)
• Status: Proposed
• Production Capacity: 5 Mtpa, revised from 19 Mtpa
• Total Resource:
• Mineable Reserves: Malolemberovsky- 2 million tonnes, Nizhnelemberovsky - 67 million tonnes
• Coal type: Anthracite
• Mine Type: Surface
• Start Year: 2024
• Source of Financing:

Related GEM.wiki articles

• Russia and coal

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Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.