Nornickel and BELAZ agree to establish a joint venture

<p>The companies are actively developing cooperation on&nbsp;the joint development of&nbsp;underground mining equipment. The first machines are already undergoing trials at&nbsp;mines in&nbsp;Norilsk. Today, Nornickel and BELAZ are working on&nbsp;introducing new breakthrough pilot solutions, expanding their equipment lineup, and bringing its technical specifications up&nbsp;to&nbsp;the level of&nbsp;the best global models.</p> <p>The partnership has resulted in&nbsp;a&nbsp;cooperation agreement aimed at&nbsp;pooling efforts to&nbsp;develop scientific and technological potential for creating a&nbsp;new generation of&nbsp;mining equipment, introducing unmanned technologies for mining, and other innovations. The document was signed on&nbsp;September&nbsp;7, 2026, in&nbsp;Zhodino (Belarus) by&nbsp;Nornickel President Vladimir Potanin and BELAZ General Director Sergei Lesin. The agreement provides for the establishment of&nbsp;a&nbsp;joint venture to&nbsp;implement these plans, as&nbsp;well as&nbsp;a&nbsp;facility with a&nbsp;full-cycle repair base aimed at&nbsp;developing the production, repair, and maintenance of&nbsp;underground mining equipment.</p> <p>&ldquo;The future of&nbsp;mining lies in&nbsp;innovation and new technologies. We have been deliberately moving in&nbsp;this direction for a&nbsp;long time. Now, by&nbsp;joining the efforts of&nbsp;two industry leaders, Nornickel and BELAZ, we intend to&nbsp;realize the technological dream of&nbsp;efficient and safe production,&rdquo; said <strong>Vladimir Potanin during the signing ceremony</strong>.</p> <figure class="figure"> <div class="figure__content"> <img class="figure__image" src="/medialibrary/659/659fb79f877e890689583de0308f08cf/news_080926.jpg"> </div> <figcaption class="figure__caption"> <b>Vladimir Potanin and Sergey Lesin sign the&nbsp;cooperation agreement in&nbsp;Zhodino, Belarus, on&nbsp;September 7,&nbsp;2026</b> </figcaption> </figure> <p>&ldquo;The creation of&nbsp;the joint venture takes our partnership to&nbsp;a&nbsp;new level. Our shared goal is&nbsp;to&nbsp;create a&nbsp;new generation of&nbsp;underground machines, including innovative models powered by&nbsp;clean energy sources. This alliance will allow BELAZ and Nornickel to&nbsp;strengthen their market position and provide Russian miners with reliable, high-performance underground equipment under the BELAZ brand,&rdquo; said <strong>Sergei Lesin, sharing the companies&rsquo; plans</strong>.</p> <p>The successful implementation of&nbsp;the project will make it&nbsp;possible to&nbsp;meet domestic demand in&nbsp;Russia for new underground mining equipment, thereby ensuring import substitution and minimizing risks associated with sanctions restrictions. The joint work will help ensure technological sovereignty, develop the machine-building industry and industrial potential, and strengthen cooperative ties within the framework of&nbsp;the Union State.</p> <p>Nornickel and BELAZ began active cooperation aimed at&nbsp;the creation and serial production of&nbsp;underground mining equipment in&nbsp;2022. Six test underground haul trucks (MoAZ-75851) and the first load-haul-dump machine (LHD MoAZ-4076) are already undergoing trials in&nbsp;Norilsk. Factory tests are currently underway for the newest underground complex of&nbsp;machines for loading and transporting rock mass&nbsp;&mdash; a&nbsp;45-ton underground haul truck (BELAZ-75855) and a&nbsp;loader with a&nbsp;17.2-ton capacity (LHD BELAZ-79550).</p> <p>Nornickel is&nbsp;involved in&nbsp;improving the technical characteristics of&nbsp;the machines under development, testing them, and helping bring their specifications up&nbsp;to&nbsp;the best global standards. In&nbsp;addition, the company is&nbsp;actively developing its own competencies in&nbsp;equipment repair and maintenance: a&nbsp;production site has been set up&nbsp;in&nbsp;Krasnoyarsk Krai, where a&nbsp;full cycle of&nbsp;underground machine restoration has been organized.</p> <p>Nornickel and BELAZ plan to&nbsp;jointly develop innovative production. In&nbsp;addition to&nbsp;traditional diesel machines, work has already begun on&nbsp;unique next-generation equipment that will run on&nbsp;alternative energy sources (electricity, hydrogen, etc.). As&nbsp;early as&nbsp;2027, pilot-industrial tests of&nbsp;battery-powered mining haul trucks are planned to&nbsp;begin, and a&nbsp;battery-powered load-haul-dump machine is&nbsp;currently undergoing factory tests. Other types of&nbsp;equipment are at&nbsp;various stages of&nbsp;development, including underground self-propelled equipment for transporting people and cargo.</p> <p>Among the promising areas of&nbsp;work is&nbsp;the study of&nbsp;the potential use of&nbsp;palladium in&nbsp;catalysts for a&nbsp;hydrogen production unit installed on&nbsp;board mining equipment. The hydrogen produced would be&nbsp;used as&nbsp;an&nbsp;energy source, thereby implementing a&nbsp;solution for creating hydrogen-powered machines.</p>

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Nornickel - News RSS · Stock Exchange/Regulatory Announcements

Published

6th September 2026

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