OREANDA-NEWS. October 10, 2012. In September 2012, a number of measures to optimise production were carried out at Berezniki-4 as part of the "Mine capacity expansion to 20 million tonnes of ore per year" project, including:

the installation of new conductors in Shaft No. 2, enabling skips to travel faster through the shaft;

the commencement of upgrade works at thesouth-easternconveyor No. 5, scheduled to begin operation in November 2012;

the launch of new ZL-1200 panel conveyors No.1 and No.2, equipped with slow motion starters by BARTEC and FLANDER,at the north-western panel;

the purchase of new machines including a self-propelled bunker car with a capacity of 25 tonnes.

In addition, the construction of a new hot air heating system was completed. Modern heating systems using natural gas have been installed in place of power consuming and less efficient water heaters. Due to the installation of new equipment, the shaft temperature can be regulated, thus solving the problem of the shaft walls frosting up and concrete lining being damaged. Specialists are able to operate the gas equipment online 24 hours a day, whilst the mine’s dispatch centre and automated central control system of Berezniki-4 receive data on all parameters of the air treatment process.

Repairs and ongoing maintenance took place in all areas of the chemical enrichment plant Berezniki-4.

The Berezniki-4 capacity expansion project is taking place at both the Plant and the Mine. As part of the project, skip machines will be replaced which will allow the mine to increase its capacity from 14.5 million tonnes to 20 million tonnes of ore per year. So far, the replacement of hoisting machines at Shafts 1 and 2 has been completed, and the new machines have passed pilot operation stage. At the Plant, a new dissolution line is now in operation and the existing line renovation is complete. The lines can work independently of each other, so repairs can take place withouthaving to stop the entire operation. The existing line is in pilot operation now and, once that has completed, the Plant will reach its project capacity of 3 million tonnes of KCI per year. Total investment in the project in the first half of 2012 amounted to USD 43 million.