First Vice President and COO Sergey Dyachenko said, “First of all, I would like to reiterate that a reduction of environmental impact remains our absolute strategic priority and confirm our commitment to radically improve the environmental situation in the regions of our operations.”

The company has started the construction of a temporary pipeline for the transportation of the collected water-fuel mixture to a special treatment and disposal site. Jointly with the government and independent consultants, Nornickel said it is exploring the most effective solutions for the disposal of contaminated soil and the restoration of disturbed ecosystems. The company is engaged in an active dialogue with all stakeholders, it added.

As part of the long-term planning of operations in permafrost conditions and mitigation of environmental risks, Nornickel is developing a real-time monitoring system of the soil conditions and the foundations’ stability of the main production facilities, according to the company. This program is expected to be designed and rolled out by the end of 2021. Meanwhile, the capabilities of the existing permafrost diagnostics center will be enhanced already this year, alongside an additional comprehensive audit of hazardous production facilities.