Russia’s expert review board (FGU Glavgosekspertiza) gave VPC a positive finding for the first stage of construction of the Talitsky MPC in Perm Krai. According to the design, the MPC’s projected capacity is 2 million tonnes of potassium chloride per year, with the complex's first commission (1 million tpa of KCl) by October 15, 2016 and the second commission (another 1 million tpa of KCl) by July 16, 2018. To speed up the construction and commissioning of the Talitsky MPC, the Company decided to divide the project into four separate stages: vertical mine shafts, underground facilities, surface facilities and hydraulic stowage facilities. Design documentation for the first stage, skip and cage shafts, received approval from the state expert review board. The skip shaft is intended for extraction of mined potassium ore, emergency evacuation and supply of the underground mine with air. The cage shaft is intended to take personnel, equipment and cargo up and down and extract the air from the mine. Receipt of the expert review board’s approval marks another milestone in development of the Talitsky deposit. It is the fruit of hard teamwork by VPC and its contractors, FGUP US-30 (Mezhgorye, Republic of Bashkortostan) and Belgorkhimprom (Republic of Belarus).

Background:
In March 2008, VPC won the auction for a license to prospect and develop the Talitsky area of the Verkhnekamsk potassium-magnesium salt deposit in Perm Krai. During that time, the Company performed prospecting of the deposit and prepared a feasibility study of final conditions and deposit estimates. In July 2008, the State Commission on Mineral Reserves examined the feasibility study and gave its approval, increasing the ore reserves by 17.6 million tonnes.

The construction site is located in Berezniki, two kilometers south of the settlement of Zheleznodorozhny, and has a temporary road. FGUP US-30 developed design documentation for construction of mine shafts and has already prepared the site for construction of a cage shaft portal.