Nornickel Takes Full Responsibility for Concentrator Collapse

NORILSK, Russia, Feb. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Three people have been reported dead and five others have been rescued when the roof in an enrichment plant unexpectedly collapsed at 4:15am local time on the morning of 20 February 2021. The oldest in a series of enrichment processing plants in the Norilsk industrial region was undergoing renovations by Nornickel's own construction subsidiary.

Nornickel's emergency response centre is providing complete medical and other necessary assistance to the victims and their families, and is taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of its employees and contractors at the site. Nornickel takes full responsibility for the collapse and is conducting a thorough review of the Concentrator, implementing additional industrial safety measures across its operations to ensure that no such accidents happen again.

Vladimir Potanin, Nornickel's CEO, stated: "We take full responsibility for the tragic accident and are doing everything we can to support the victims and their families at this difficult time. The accident happened overnight, due to a severe violation of the safety rules. Nornickel has always treated industrial safety as its highest priority. We are undertaking a full review and are focused on strengthening our safety efforts even further."  Earlier, the Company revealed its commitment to spend 100bln roubles ($1.35bln) over 5 years on industrial safety measures.

Nornickel's emergency response is continuing its investigation of the accident. Over 70 responders from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the military mountain rescue unit and the gas rescue service, along with 15 units of rescue equipment are involved in the rescue operations.  The repairs on the plant, built in 1947, were carried out by Norilsknickelremont. Nornickel expressed deepest condolences to the families of the deceased, and the Company will provide all assistance necessary to these families.

About MMC "Norilsk Nickel," "Nornickel" or the "Company."

MMC Norilsk Nickel is a diversified mining and metallurgical company, the world's largest producer of palladium, high-grade nickel, and a major producer of platinum and copper; it also produces cobalt, rhodium, silver, gold, iridium, ruthenium, selenium, tellurium, sulphur and other products. Nornickel shares are listed on the Moscow and Saint Petersburg Stock Exchanges; ADRs are traded over the counter in the U.S. and on the London, Berlin and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges.

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SOURCE MMC Norilsk Nickel