OREANDA-NEWS. On 08 August 2008 OMZ OJSC (Uralmash-Izhora Group) (RTS: OMZZ; LSE: OMZD; OTC: UHMVY) announced the completion by IZ-KARTEX, a part of OMZ Group, of a modernized SBSh-270IZ drilling rig for the metals company Chador Malu, Iran. The mobile unit, designed to make blast holes in open pit mining, has construction features which differentiate it from previous versions of the rig.

At Chador Malu's request, the rig’s mast, consisting of two connected pipes, was lengthened to 23 meters instead of the 17.5 meters of earlier models. This allows full extraction of the drill rod from the blast hole. The machine can then move to another location without disassembly of the drill rod and with the mast fixed in a vertical position. With the need to assemble and disassemble the drill rod with each move, the change generates increased production efficiency.

Chador Malu, a company specializing in copper ore extraction and copper smelting, plans to purchase two more drilling rigs produced by IZ-KARTEX.