Mezhdurechensk site

Mezhdurechensk site of Raspadskaya Coal Company comprises Raspadskaya and Raspadskaya-Koksovaya mines, Raspadsky and Raspadsky-Koksovy open pits, Raspadskaya washing plant and some service companies.

Raspadskaya coal company

Raspadskaya Coal Company is an integrated coal mining and processing hub.

It comprises seven underground mines, one open pit, three washing plants and 10 specialised support enterprises located on two sites in the Kemerovo region. Novokuznetsk site: Alardinskaya, Essaulskaya, Osinnikovskaya, Uskovskaya and Yerunakovskaya-VIII mines. Mezhdurechensk site: Raspadskaya and Raspadskaya-Koksovaya mines, Raspadsky and Raspadsky-Koksovy open pits.

Raspadskaya Coal Company also includes a new EVRAZ coal operation — Mezhegeyugol Coal Company in the Tuva Republic.

Coal concentrate is produced at the Raspadskaya, Abashevskaya and Kuznetskaya washing plants.

Raspadskaya Coal Company is a supplier of coal to the majority of leading steel and coking works and enterprises in Russia and the CIS, as well as countries in South-east Asia and Eastern Europe. Its wide range of products includes all major grades of coking coal — GZh, K, KS, KO and Zh.

In 2018, Raspadskaya Coal Company produced 23 mt of coal and sold over 13.8 mt of concentrate.

Protection of the environment in the course of coal mining and processing is one of Raspadskaya Coal Company’s priorities. The company regularly performs environmental monitoring (laboratory tests) of runoff water, water bodies, the atmosphere, land, vegetation, etc.

Based on 2015 results, EVRAZ was among the top 10 mining companies in Russia in terms of environmental responsibility according to the rating developed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) together with the United Nations Development Programme, the Global Environment Facility and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation.

In 2017, the Year of the Environment, Raspadskaya Coal Company brought into operation state-of-the-art water treatment facilities at the Raspadskaya Koksovaya mine and the Abashevskaya mine and at the shutdown MUK-96 mine. Russia’s biggest coal mine, Raspadskaya, is upgrading its treatment facilities. Construction of water treatment facilities is in progress at the Alardinskaya mine, and the design of treatment facilities is in progress at the Raspadsky open pit and Osinnikovskaya mine.

In 2018, a virtual tour of the Uskovskaya and Yerunakovskaya-VIII water treatment facilities, an IT solution developed by Raspadskaya Coal Company, was awarded a gold medal at the Siberian Eco Forum.

In 2018, 2,400 pine seedlings were planted on 18 hectares of affected land.

Every year, miners hold gardening and landscaping campaigns in Novokuznetsk and Mezhdurechensk. The company’s environmental specialists promote awareness among pupils at schools and children attending kindergartens. They hold the following events: “Earth Day”, “Birds Day”, “Live, Wellspring”, “Second Life for Trees” and “Collect. Bring. Recycle”. Raspadskaya Coal Company employees take part in All-Kuzbass subbotniks (volunteer clean-up events) and months of planting trees.

In 2018, 270 hardwood seedlings (ash, mountain ash, apple tree) and 20 softwood seedlings were planted in the Novokuznetsk district; 545 trees were planted in Mezhdurechensk (spruce, birch trees, bird cherry trees, etc.).

The Mezhdurechensk site of Raspadskaya Coal Company comprises Raspadskaya and Raspadskaya-Koksovaya mines, Raspadsky and Raspadsky-Koksovy open pits, the Raspadskaya washing plant and some service companies.

The Mezhdurechensk site is a supplier of coal to the majority of leading steel and coking works and enterprises in Russia and the CIS, as well as countries in South-east Asia and Eastern Europe. A wide range of products include all major grades of coking coal — GZh, K, KS, KO and Zh.

Raspadskaya mine is Raspadskaya Coal Company’s flagship in the production of high-quality GZh-grade coking coal.

The history of the mine dates back to 28 December 1973, the day on which the mine brought its first coal to the surface.

Raspadskaya mine has a design capacity of 7.5 mtpa.

Today, mining operations take place at a depth of 600 metres; more than 230 km of roadways are maintained.

Raspadskaya mine produces coal from three seams — 10, 7-7a, 6-6a. Longwall mining is used for coal extraction. JOY, Glinik and Bucyrus high-performance longwall systems are used in production faces.

In 45 years from the date the mine went into operation, Raspadskaya has produced over 260 mt of coal and developed over 416,000 linear metres of roadways.

Raspadskaya has booked reserves of 1.114 billion tonnes of coal. This will allow the mine to work successfully and lead the industry for 100 years.

Raspadsky open pit has been operating since 2004. It produces valuable GZh and GZhO grades of coking coal. Originally, coal seams were mined using two methods: open mining and highwall mining. Currently, coal is primarily mined using the traditional open mining method since the coal seams dip steeply.

Raspadsky open pit miners work at two production sites: the open pit itself and the open mining area of Raspadskaya Koksovaya mine. In 2018, they exceeded their target and extracted a record total of 6 million tonnes. Coal from stockpiles goes to the Raspadskaya washing plant.

The history of Raspadskaya Koksovaya dates back to 2003, when the first peg was driven, marking the start of construction. This mine is unique due to its K-grade coal, Russia’s most valuable grade, which is needed by steelworkers. However, the geological and mining environment in which the miners work is considered to be very tough.

Until April 2019, seams were mined using the room and pillar mining method. Today, the mine uses longwall mining technology. This will allow a 2.5-fold increase in production volume. It took the whole year to develop the first longwall, 3-2-1b, for start-up. A production unit of 130 people was put together at Raspadskaya Koksovaya.

Raspadskaya Koksovaya mine is a modern operation that has state-of-the-art equipment. An underground Wi-Fi network consisting of eight access points was rolled out at a depth of 500 metres. A specialised video surveillance system has been installed in roadways that comprises 15 machine vision devices placed on every drill rig and road header.

In 2018, Raspadskaya Koksovaya miners extracted half a million tonnes of valuable K-grade coal.

There is also an open mining area at Raspadskaya Koksovaya mine, the Raspadsky open pit, where miners extract OS- and KS-grade coal.

Raspadskaya washing plant

The Raspadskaya washing plant is the largest washing plant in Russia and in Europe that processes coking coal of all basic grades — GZh, K, KS, KO and Zh.

It went into operation in October 2005. The washing plant has a design capacity of 15 mtpa of run-of-mine coal.

Coal from all operations of Raspadskaya Coal Company is sent there. The Raspadskaya washing plant processes over 11 mt of coal every year.

From 2005 to 2018, the Raspadskaya washing plant processed over 115 mt of coal and produced over 81 mt of concentrate.

At the beginning of its 20-year history, Montazhnik Raspadskoy manufactured welded mesh for roadways support. Today, the enterprise repairs mining equipment and produces over 2,000 types of products.

Montazhnik Raspadskoy specialists have successfully mastered roadheader repair technology, which allows the company to save on engaging third parties for that type of work.

In 2018, Montazhnik Raspadskoy:

Flanged 98 km of pipe;
Manufactured 42 km of overhead monorail;
Repaired 292 electric engines; and
Repaired 217 mine pumps.

Plans for 2019 include certification of belt conveyors, so that the company can manufacture them under its own trademark in 2020.

Olzherass Sinking Company (OSC) is a unique sinking enterprise and the only one in Kuzbass.

It was founded in 1948.

OSC performs the entire range of sinking works: it constructs mine surface facilities and infrastructure and carries out development, support and repair of horizontal, inclined and vertical roadways and installation.

In the 70 years of the company’s existence, Olzherass Sinking Company has developed over 50 km of main roadways and constructed seven vertical shafts from 150 m to 530 m deep.

Today, OSC works at the Mezhdurechensk and Novokuznetsk sites of Raspadskaya Coal Company.

Tomusinsk Handling and Transport Company (THTC) is the most important link in the delivery system of coal products from Raspadskaya Coal Company’s mines and open pits to customers. THTC carries coal concentrate to the external rail network and performs a significant volume of internal transport to ensure an uninterrupted work cycle on the part of the company’s coal mining operations and washing plants.

The business was founded in 1956.

Today, THTC maintains over 60 km of railway tracks and has a state-of-the-art repair shop for all kinds of repair and maintenance of railway tracks, locomotives and railway vehicles.

Every year, it transports over 10 mt of coal from the Mezhdurechensk site of Raspadskaya Coal Company.

The company has transported over 600 mt of coal since the start of its operations.

In the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, Russian scientists made a few attempts to study the Kuznetsk coal basin. Following difficult expeditions, explorers suggested that the mountains between the Tom and Mrassu Rivers and the Olzherass River flood plains contained one of the largest and highest-quality coal deposits in the world, with coal seams of exceptional thickness.

It was only in 1948, however, that a fat coking coal deposit was discovered in the middle of the Olzherass River and its tributaries. It was called Raspadsky after the name of a wellspring.

In the early 1960s, Raspadskaya mine was designed, according to which it would become the largest and most advanced coal operation in the country. In 1970, Raspadskaya was announced as a Komsomol shock construction project; thousands of young people from all over the USSR went there.

Stage 1 of Raspadskaya mine, with a design capacity of 2 mtpa, went into operation on 28 December 1973. Construction of the mine was completed four years later, on 27 December 1977, when stage 3 went into operation.

In the course of the next ten years, the miners managed to ramp up coal production to the full design capacity of 7.5 mtpa.

In the 1990s, the coal industry experienced a severe crisis; however, Raspadskaya not only kept afloat but even grew — new mining systems were brought into operation, and labour productivity increased. For one, Raspadskaya mine was the first in Russia to put into operation a JOY longwall mining system in 1997.

In 2003, Raspadskaya mine served as the basis for the establishment of Raspadskaya Coal Company, which united interrelated operations — a group of mining, development, transportation and sales businesses.

In 2003, construction of Raspadskaya Koksovaya mine began in order to produce scarce K- and KO-grade coking coals.

In 2004, Raspadsky open pit was set up.

In 2005, Raspadskaya washing plant stage 1 went into operation. From day one, the operation utilised cutting-edge equipment to wash GZh, K, GZhO, OA, KS, T and Zh grades of coal.

In 2008, Raspadskaya washing plant stage 2 went into operation.

In 2011, seven months after an accident, Raspadskaya produced the first coal from longwall 4-9-21b.

In 2013, Raspadskaya Coal Company joined EVRAZ following the sale of the shares held by Corber Enterprises Ltd.

That same year, Raspadsky open pit was among the five largest open pits in Russia, with coal production of 4 mtpa.

In 2014, recovery works were completed in the Raspadskaya mine block 4 (Glukhaya) ventilation shaft.

In 2017, flotation technology was brought into operation at Raspadskaya washing plant section 3, which provided for the processing of hard-to-wash K, KS and OS grades of coal, with material of less than 0.15 mm.

In 2017, Raspadsky open pit commenced development of a new site, an open mining area at Raspadskaya Koksovaya mine where OS and KS grades of coal are produced.

In 2017, Raspadskaya mine resumed activities in seam 6-6a with reserves of over 127 mt. That same year, the mine produced 6.5 mt.

In 2018–2019, Raspadskaya Coal Company’s businesses are implementing investment projects aimed at the development of operations and safe working conditions; state-of-the-art production and development equipment is being procured. Today, the company is prioritising projects that focus on increasing safety, reducing costs, expanding the product line and improving the quality of coal concentrate. This strategy will allow the company to maintain its leadership among coking coal producers in any economic environment.