Currently, uranium is not mined at this deposit. The enterprise of the mining division of Rosatom, JSC EGMK, is currently conducting only a gold mining project there. Development of the uranium project in the Elkon zone is a prospect for 2035.
The uranium reserves of categories B+C1+C2 at six deposits of the Elkon uranium ore district – Elkon, Elkonskoye Plateau, Kurung, Neprokhodimoye, Druzhnoye and Severnoye – amount to 357.1 thousand tons (about 6% of the world reserves and 69% of the reserves of the state corporation Rosatom). The gold reserves of category B+C1+C2 are 178.9 tons. In addition, the deposits of the district are rich in silver, vanadium, molybdenum.
Earlier, Svyatetsky reported that the reserves of the operating mines, where Rosatom currently extracts uranium, will last until the 2050s. In particular, according to him, the reserves of the Dalur mines will last until 2044, the Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Association (PIMCHO) – until about the 2030s, and taking into account the commissioning of mine No. 6 – until about the 2050s, Khiagdy – until 2045. In addition, the Kaldera geological exploration project is already being developed for JSC PPGHO im. Slavsky, which will replace the country’s largest uranium mine No. 6 in the city of Krasnokamensk in the Zabaikalsky Krai, which is still under construction.
JSC Atomredmetzoloto manages Russian uranium mining assets located in the Zabaikalsky Krai (PJSC PPGHO named after E.P. Slavsky), the Republic of Buryatia (JSC Khiagda), and the Kurgan Region (JSC Dalur). More than 60% of uranium is mined using the cost-effective and environmentally friendly method of borehole underground leaching. The company carries out a full range of works: from geological exploration, pilot and design work to reclamation and decommissioning of production facilities. It implements a number of non-uranium projects: gold, lithium, rare and rare earth metals (titanium, zirconium, scandium, niobium) mining.