Finalists and Winners of the 13th Russian Mining Excellence Award competition were announced on 10th October 2019 at the Gala dinner which concluded the MINEX Russia Mining and Exploration Forum. Over the years the competition has become known as the “Russian Mining Oscar”. The Award was established by the MINEX Forum in 2007 with the goal of evaluating and promoting outstanding projects and achievements of Russian and international companies.
In 2019, the competition was held in 8 categories: Exploration Project of the Year, Mining Project of the Year, Investment Project of the Year, HR Project of the Year, SCR Project of the Year, Ecological Project of the Year, Disruptive Technology of the Year and the of the Mining Legend.
The winner in the “Exploration Project of the Year” nomination was the Polyus Krasnoyarsk company with the Blagodatnoye deposit project, the company’s second-largest asset. The finalists in this nomination were Pavlik Gold Mining Company (33% increase in reserves as of October 2018) and Krasnoyarsk GRP (additional exploration of the Razdolinsky ore cluster deposits). The winner in this nomination was announced by Alexei Lazarev, GKZ (State Committee on Reserves and Resources of Russia).
In the “Mining Project of the Year” nomination there were two major projects that reached the final of the competition: Kimkano-Sutaarsky GOK (flagship large-scale iron ore project of Petropavlovsk Group) and Polyus Magadan (Natalka deposit). The winner in this nomination was Petropavlovsk, the award was presented by Alexander Lopatnikov, AAR.
For the “Investment Project of the Year” nomination there were two finalists: the Kimkano-Sutaarsky GOK (since 2010 the company has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) and the Russian Copper Company. The Winner in this nomination was the Russian Copper Company, which in 2018 acquired a license to develop the Malmyzhskoye deposit in the Khabarovsk Territory. The award was presented by Mikhail Leskov, IGT Group.
In the nomination “HR Project of the Year” the following projects reached the final: Polymetal Int. (promoting the principles of personnel diversification and responsibility for observing human rights among employees, partners and suppliers); GeoSolutions (the largest group of geologists (25 employees) performing the assessment of solid mineral reserves) ; Kimkano-Sutaarsky GOK, jointly with the FSBEI “Amur State University named after Sholom-Aleichem” (Birobidzhan), (implementing a training program for high-demand speciality for the mining industry – Mineral Processing Engineer); and Highland Gold Mining (updating the training centre at the Novo-Shirokinsky mine and training on developing a conscious attitude to safety). The unanimous winner in this nomination was Polymetal with a gender development project in the industry. Prizes to the finalists and the winner were awarded by Vadim Petrov, MISIS.
The nomination “SCR Project of the Year” is dedicated to promotion of best practices that have made a significant positive impact on the development of the company’s management systems and society. The discussion of this nomination was the most lively among the jury members. The projects of Polymetal (development of the social sphere and improvement of the urban environment in the territory of Polymetal in Amursk), Karelian Pellet (the company has been the general partner of the International Festival of Arts throughout its existence), SUEK-Kuzbass (theatre project, SUEK work squad, “Dream Skis” public organization), Kimkano-Sutaarsky GOK (the plant in the JAO is one of the main taxpayers at all levels of the budget system of the Russian Federation). Despite the diversity and significance of all the projects in this nomination, the jury was especially impressed by the projects of Highland Gold Mining (renewal of social infrastructure facilities, restoration of churches). The award to the winner in the Social Responsibility nomination was presented by Vladimir Zhosan, IDE.
This year, following numerous recommendations from industry, the nomination “Ecological Project of the Year” was included in the Russian Mining Excellence Award competition. Six of the most significant projects submitted to the competition reached the finals, among them: Polymetal (a comprehensive solution for the introduction of solar and wind power plants in the remote Svetloye field), Karelsky Pellet (commissioning of the second stage of the complex of internal water circulation (tailings thickening), Highland Gold Mining (competition for collecting plastic), SUEK-Kuzbass (project on methane utilization with the production of heat and electric energy”), Kimkano-Sutaarsky GOK (environmental management system and regular monitoring of the ecosystem), Olenegorsk Mining and Processing Plant (project to preserve and improve the environment, reduce pollutants in the wastewater (nitrogen group) due to their absorption by plants). The winner was Polymetal. The plastic collection project by Highland Gold Mining was noted as promising and recommended for implementation at all enterprises of the industry. The award was presented by Julia Boyko, the jury member and a professional ecologist.
Industry leading solutions were presented in the Disruptive Technology of the Year nomination, with AGD Diamonds being the winner with a project to introduce XRT separation at the GOK named after. V. Grib. The finalists in this nomination were Atomredmedzoloto (a project for localizing explosive production capacities at PJSC “Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union”), Highland Gold Mining (an innovative Golden Eye solution) and Polymetal (advanced database management technologies). The award to the winner in this nomination was presented by Kirill Prystansky, Polyus.
“Mining Legend” award was presented to Evgeny Ivanov.
Evgeny Ivanov graduated from Moscow Finance Institute in 1990 with a degree in International Economic Relations. After graduation, he worked at the State Bank of the USSR and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, where he was directly involved in the development of regulations that laid the foundation for the emergence of a new, free precious metals market in Russia.
In 1996 he joined ONEXIM-Bank, where he created and headed the Precious Metals Department. With his input, ONEXIM Bank in less than a year entered the top four in terms of financing operations with precious metals in Russia. The Bank was the first Russian commercial bank to receive a license to export precious metals from Russia, under conditions of chronic underfunding of the precious metals exploration and mining industry, thus providing an additional flow of funds for the restoration of the industry.
During this period, he initiated the formation of a long-term strategy for the development of the group’s business in the field of precious metals mining, starting the implementation of these plans during the transition of the bank from August 1998 into ROSBANK, where from 1998 to 2004 he first was the Deputy Chairman, and then the Chairman of the Board and President of the Bank.
In February 2004, he left his posts at the bank to head the Norilsk Nickel 100% affiliated gold mining subsidiary company – Polyus Gold. From 2004 to 2012, he developed and implemented the strategy of creating a company that became the absolute leader of the Russian precious metals market, made a number of large-scale acquisitions of promising deposits, supervised construction of the largest gold mining factories in the industry, ensuring the company’s rapid growth and transforming it from a regional producer with a corporate culture artels into the largest public gold mining company in Russia. For many years the company has been included in the TOP-10 gold mining companies in the world.
After leaving Polyus Gold, he created one of the first exploration companies in the country, operating to the highest international standards. Today N-Mining Company successfully operates in a number of regions in the Russian Far East and develops the industry’s largest portfolio of promising exploration projects, that attract interest of leading foreign mining corporations.
The principles and development directions of Polyus and N-Mining laid down by Yevgeny Ivanov, the personnel trained for this industry with his personal input, and projects whose development followed the path chosen under his leadership and with his direct participation, continue to have a large-scale positive impact on the image and reputation of the Russian mining and geological industry in the eyes of domestic and foreign financial and industrial partners, on its current state and on its future prospects.
The award was presented by Mikhail Leskov, IGT Group.
