NLMK Group

9
Economy and Production DEVELOPMENT
Growing Deep
Reconstruction of the mining transportation system will allow Stoilensky
to boost the production of quartzite ore to 42 mtpy.
The project was designed
by Stoilensky engineers
in collaboration with the
Tsentrgiproruda Institute. It will
create opportunities for reducing the
costs associated with the delivery
of ore to processing facilities,
increasing the volume of stripping
operations, and consistently
improving the efficiency of the open
pit mine in the future.
The plan calls for new railroad
facilities. One of these, the
Otvalnaya Station, is already
operating on a provisional basis
at the western wall of the pit. Its
track switches are connected to the
Zapadnaya Station computer system,
allowing the station operator to
manage rail traffic at the new
section. With the Otvalnaya Station
and the track spans connecting it
to Zapadnaya and Aleksandrovka
stations, it has become possible
to reduce the workload for the
Aleksandrovka Station, where the
bulk of stripped overburden from
the Vostochny Outpost had been
channeled previously, and for the
Zapadnaya Station. In addition, the
Otvalnaya Station is situated at an
elevation of 40 meters above the
Aleksandrovka Station, allowing
it to receive a larger volume of
stripped overburden without adding
storage space.
Mr. Alexey Kiktev, Supervisor
of Rail Transportation Shop (RTS),
says “modernization of the mining
transportation system has helped
reduce the time required for
switching of trains. We now have
the opportunity to do this in the
immediate vicinity of excavators
No. 62 and No. 66, and their
output has increased to 5,500
cubic meters of rock per shift. And
this is not the limit.”
The mining transportation
system revamp design calls
for the construction of another
railroad outpost, named ‘gor.
+210 m’, in order to improve
the efficiency of mining