OREANDA-NEWS. Pechorskaya central preparation plant (CPP) of Vorkutaugol, one of the largest coal mining companies in Russia and part of PAO Severstal, one of the world's leading steel and steel related mining companies, has completed the renovation of its preparation facility at a total investment of over one billion roubles. This project will enable the main site of the production chain to process more coal by using more efficient equipment.

The extensive renovation of Pechorskaya CPP began in 2012 to increase coal-refining capacity following Vorkutaugol's announcement to increase coal production. The renovation will be completed in two phases without interruption to production. The planned outcome of this project is to increase the plant capacity to 11.3 million tonnes of coal per year.

Oleg Grishin, Director of Coal Preparation at Vorkutaugol, said: "Today, we are pleased to announce the completed  renovation of the coal preparation facility, which represents 80 per cent of the total reconstruction of Pechorskaya CPP. We have replaced the majority of the old equipment. We now have less equipment and more efficient production. For example, before the renovation we had 36 screens, now there are only ten."

This has helped to increase productivity significantly. Previously the plant could only process one thousand tonnes of rock per hour. This figure has risen by approximately 25 per cent. End product quality has improved consistently and the cost per tonne of coal processing has been reduced by 15 per cent. This has enabled the Vorkuta concentrate to be more competitive on the market.

During the renovation, more than 30 new fully automated and easy to use units of equipment were installed.

Some of the dismantled equipment will be used at Vorkutaugol. Some components and units are still operational and they will be installed in the coal preparation plants at the Severnaya and Vorkutinskaya mines.

Over the next year, Pechorskaya CPP plans to install a third chamber for the filter press and renovate another radial thickener to improve the preparation process, dewatering, thickening, and filtration of coal. This will mark the completion of the renovation project.