Palmira Resources Limited, a subsidiary of Russia's Alfa Group financial-industrial conglomerate and Cuba's Commercial Caribbean Nickel S.A., have set up a joint venture to process nickel tailings on the island, Alfa Group's Alexei Mikhailovsky said on Monday.
A pilot unit to test the technology of metals extraction from tailings will be launched in 2011 near the city of Nicaro, where 100 million tons of tailings were located, Mikhailovsky said.
"There is not only nickel there, there is also cobalt, iron and chrome. Our task is to extract as much metal from the tailings as possible and as efficiently as possible," he said, adding that the pilot unit would show which metals could be most efficiently extracted.
"We think not only about the maximum extraction of metals, but also about economic efficiency. Thus we will design large facilities on the basis of the pilot unit. It should be a large-scale production," Mikhailovsky said.
Ivan Martinez Leyet, Cuba's Deputy Minister for Basic Industry, said that the industrial processing of tailings would help solve ecological problems in the region.
"Gradually, as research goes on and after we get first positive results, 700-800 jobs will be created at the processing plant," Martinez said.
Russia and Cuba plan to set up a joint venture to upgrade a thermal power plant on the island and other projects, Russia's ambassador to Cuba Mikhail Kamynin said.
HAVANA, September 20 (RIA Novosti)
