Nearly 3,000 tonnes of copper belonging to MMC Norilsk Nickel, a key Russian nonferrous and precious metal company, ended up on the bottom of a northern Siberian river on Sunday as a barge sank while the metal was being loaded on it, a Norilsk Nickel spokeswoman said on Monday according to Interfax.
The barge's hull broke through as copper was being put on the boat in the Dudinka port, which lies in the lower reaches of the Yenisei River. The barge sank, taking 2,822 tonnes of copper to the bottom with it, Yelena Kovalyova told Interfax.
Kovalyova said no one had been hurt and that the loading had involved no departure from technical rules.
The copper would be raised from the bottom when the current seasonal high water level in the Yenisei goes down, she said.
Since the site of the accident was a river port, it would not delay the loading of metal on sea ships to be carried to other parts of Russia or abroad, the spokeswoman said.
The copper that sank "was intended for the domestic market, the schedule of supplies will not be disrupted," she said.
Kovalyova said the Dudinka port would go back to its regular loading and unloading routine when its facilities are restored by mid-July spring after seasonal flooding.