Updated March 28, 2008

   The use of the Kamchatka District mineral resources in the nearest future will help to change significantly the general structure of the industry due to creation of new industries.

These industries comprise: enterprises of the non-ferrous metallurgy, gas and oil extraction industry, building materials etc.

About this reported the minister of natural resources of the Kamchatka District Juriy Garashchenko.

   According to his opinion, one should consider the deposits of precious metals, nickel and platinum as

the objects of the primary attention on the first stages of the mineral resources exploitation of the District. By 2018 around 18 tons of gold and 3 tons

of plat inum will be extracted

in the District annually in accordance with the projects of the companies-subsurface users.

These extraction volumes will be kept within the subsequent years.

According to the current prices the output of the commodity products will total more than $1 billion in this case.

   Kamchatka is one of the largest nickel-rich provinces of Russia.

In addition to the mining enterprise on the basis of Shanuchsky copper-nickel deposit is envisaged arrangement of the second mining enterprise at the Kvinum area. The total nickel extraction on both enterprises can attain 10 000 tons. The forecast resources of hydrocarbon potential of the Kamch atka peninsula land are estim

ated at 150 million tons of oil and around 800 bcm of gas.

12 deposits of thermal and heat

and power waters are developed in the Kamchatka District also.

Moreover, the specialists assume that the peninsula is provided with all types of building materials, except for the raw material for cement production.

    The strategy of industry development presupposes two main directions of the mineral-resources basis use.

They comprise: the mining for providing both the economy and Kamchatka population activity (extraction of coal, gas, heat and power, mineral and fresh waters, use of building materials) as well as development of high liquidity raw material deposits, such as precious metals, nickel, copper, hydrocarbons, titanomagnetite sands to budget the Kamchatka District and to increase population employment.

Juriy Garashchenko marked that the special attention in the strategy is paid to the measures directed to preservation of the unique nature of the peninsula during the mineral resources prospecting and development.