Mechel Wins Additional Coking Coal License Areas

Mechel Wins Additional Coking Coal License Areas 


KEMEROVO, Russia, April 7  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southern Kuzbass Coal
Company, a subsidiary of Mechel, has won two auctions for the right to explore
and mine coking coal at two plots of the Erunakovskoye Coal Deposit, with total
reserves of 264.6 million tons according to Russian reserve valuation
standards.

According to the decisions of the auction committee, Mechel will receive
20-year licenses through its subsidiary, Southern Kuzbass OAO, for the
Erunakovskaya-1 Mine and Erunakovskaya-3 Mine plots of the Erunakovskoye Coal
Deposit. The acquisition of the new mining areas is in line with Mechel's
strategy to further develop its coking coal mining operations.

Coal reserves are 58.0 million tons in the Erunakovskaya-1 Mine license area
and 206.6 million tons in the Erunakovskaya-3 Mine license area, according to
the Russian reserve valuation standards, and primarily consist of coking coal.
The auction conditions require a minimum of 1 million tons of extraction
annually during the first stage of development, and 2 million tons of
extraction annually during the second stage of development for each of the two
areas.

"Coking coal mining has always been a central part of Mechel's operations, and
it remains a strategic priority for us.  In winning today's auctions, we have
taken another important step forward in the overall development of our
company's mining segment," Mechel's CEO, Vladimir Iorich, said on completion of
the auction.

Russian reserve valuation standards differ from international standards. Mechel
intends to finalize an independent reserve valuation of these license areas
with U.S. experts during 2005.

Mechel is one of the leading Russian metals and mining companies.  The Company
unites producers of steel, rolled products, hardware, coal, iron ore
concentrate, and nickel.  Mechel products are marketed domestically and
internationally.

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other
forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial
performance of Mechel Steel Group, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of
the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution
you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or
results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements. We
refer you to the documents Mechel Steel Group files from time to time with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form F-1. These
documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in
the section captioned < Risk Factors > and < Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements > in our Form F-1, that could cause the actual
results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or
forward-looking statements, including, among others, the achievement of
anticipated levels of profitability, growth, cost and synergy of our recent
acquisitions, the impact of competitive pricing, the ability to obtain
necessary regulatory approvals and licenses, the impact of developments in the
Russian economic, political and legal environment, volatility in stock markets
or in the price of our shares or ADRs, financial risk management and the impact
of general business and global economic conditions. 

DATASOURCE: Mechel



CONTACT:  Irina Ostryakova, Director of Communications, Mechel OAO,

[phone], Fax: [phone],  



Web site:  http://www.mechel.com/ 

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