Alexei Ivanushkin said the facility, to be located in the Aktyubinsk Region, will have a projected annual capacity of 250,000 tons of ferrochrome.
A project feasibility study is to be prepared by mid-2009.
The Aktyubinsk Region will see the opening of a mining and processing works at the Mechel-owned Voskhod chrome deposit on Monday. The project is worth some $250 million, of which $110 million was attracted investment.
The facility will annually produce 1.3 million tons of chromites starting from 2009.
Ivanushkin also said his company plans to invest $80-100 million in the first stage of the development of the Shevchenko nickel deposit in Kazkahstan, which is to see a pilot project with a capacity of 1,000-1,500 tons of nickel a year.
The first stage of the project is to be launched in 2011. If successful, it is to be followed by a general project with investment estimated at $750 million.
Output could rise to an estimated 20,000 tons with the launch of the second stage, scheduled for 2013.
Mechel is one of Russia's leading mining and metals companies, uniting producers of coal, iron ore, nickel, steel, and rolled products.
Mechel's share price tumbled in July after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the company of price fixing and ordered a probe into its operations. The company was subsequently fined 790 million rubles ($32 million), or 5% of its annual turnover, for violations of competition laws.
According to the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, Mechel abused its dominant market position by charging artificially high prices for its products, refused to sign contracts for deliveries, and supported a policy of price fixing.
