Norilsk Nickel, BasEl won't bid for Udokan copper field

Russia's Norilsk Nickel and Basic Element have scrapped plans to bid in a tender for the rights to develop the Udokan copper deposit in Siberia, leaving just two bidders for the 20-year license.

Norilsk Nickel will not join state-run industrial conglomerate Rostekhnologii in bidding for the Udokan deposit, Sergei Chemezov, the chief executive of Rostekhnologii, told reporters Tuesday.

"Rostekhnologii will bid jointly with (metals holding) Metalloinvest," Chemezov said.

Norilsk Nickel earlier decided that it would not take part in the Udokan field tender independently.

Meanwhile, Sorsky GOK, a unit of tycoon Oleg Deripaska's Basic Element (BasEl), has informed the Federal Mineral Resources Agency that it was withdrawing its bid for the Udokan field, Sorsky GOK's parent company SRM said in a statement Tuesday. SRM said that participation in the tender without a partner was "unfeasible".

In addition to the consortium of Rostekhnologii and Metalloinvest, a consortium made up of Russian Railways, the Urals Mining and Metallurgical Company, or UMMC, and the Russian Development Bank is also bidding in the September 17 tender.

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim Group, which has also dropped plans to participate in the tender, said Tuesday that it was ready cooperate as an operator with the tender winner.

The tender for the Udokan license has been postponed twice this year. On Tuesday, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Minister Yury Trutnev said that the deadline for the tender would not be postponed again.

Bids for the license to develop the field were accepted until July 11.

Udokan, located in the Zabaikalsky (Trans-Baikal) Region, is one of the world's largest undeveloped copper deposits, with 1.31 billion tonnes of mineable ore and an estimated 19.7 million tonnes of copper at an ore grade of 1.51%.