The Group's iron ore mining operations are based 30 kilometres from Kremenchug in central Ukraine, on the banks of the Dnieper river.  The total resource of approximately 18 billion tonnes consists of 9 deposits of magnetite ore with an average iron content of 30%.  Mining started at Ferrexpo Poltava in the 1960s with the first concentrate being produced in 1970.  Mining is currently carried out at the Gorishne – Plavninskoye and Lavrikovskoye deposits and Yeristovskoye is being developed to produce ore by 2011. 

The ore from the mine is crushed and ground to produce a concentrate, which is then heated to produce pellets.  During processing the iron content is increased to produce pellets of 62% and 65% iron.  Pellets are robust, which aids transportation and use in the furnace, and also have environmental advantages for the customer.  The current annual pelletising capacity is approximately 12 million tonnes.

The operations have rail links which allow transportation by rail to many European customers and rail links to the Black Sea ports.  The direct access to the Dnieper River also allows the transportation of material directly down the river by barge to the Black Sea.

In late 2006, Ferrexpo Poltava Mining (FPM) purchased a 49.9% interest in Tis-Ruda, the most modern dry bulk shipping terminal in Ukraine, capable of handling 5 million tonnes per annum. The Group has access to 100% of the capacity of this facility, which was commissioned in May 2007.