The horizon 7D of the underground uranium mine No. 8 of PJSC PIMCU has been accepted into service

Start of the mining at the new horizon means reaching by the mine the project capacity of 366 th. tons of ore (705 tons of uranium) per year. “The horizon 7D is noted for good production capacity which will ensure constant and smooth operation of the whole eighth mine. Units 8-701 and 8-706 are prepared for service and first ore from the horizon will be received today.” –Director of the mine No.8 Alexandr Rabolt announced.

Director of the Shaft-Sinking Division of PIMCU Andrey Ryazanov particularly noted that the horizon had been accepted into service one and a half year ahead of the scheduled date. All the works had been made in two years instead of three and a half years – from August 2015 to August 2017. “Works were conducted in difficult mining and geological conditions.  Not only enthusiasm of the employees but also implementation of the Production system of “Rosatom scheduled date” helped us. We gave to Rosatom scheduled date project the name of “Reduction of construction terms.” –Andrey Ryazanov commented.

Having listed to the reports Director general of ARMZ Uranium Holding signed the Certificate of the State Commission about acceptance of the horizon into service. Then the Head of the Mining division of the State Corporation Rosatom Vladimir Verhovtsev, Director General of PIMCU Alexandr Glotov and Deputy PM - Head of the Zabaykalsky Krai Governor Administration Dmitry Kochergin cut the traditional red at the entrance to the shaft inset of the shaft 14В.

Altogether, at the depth of 527 m, more than 4 km were covered during the construction of the horizon, including more than 1 km of vertical. The boring of the horizon 7D was simultaneously conducted from two sides - from the shafts 14B and 14RESH. From the side of 14RESH the work was carried out by the division No. 3 headed by Gennady Damaskin, from the side of 14B - by the division No. 2 of Sergei Kiselev. Lines of compressed air and service water, contact network and track for underground electric locomotives were installed, cable lines were laid. Simultaneously with the main direction, crosscutting and drifting works were carried out to prepare for the development of new stopes.

«I am sure that your experience and qualification, your work will be in demand at construction of the new mine No. 6 in the nearest future."- Vladimir Verkhovtsev said at the ceremony of awarding the best shaft sinkers, which took place at the depth of 527 m in the shaft inset of the shaft 14RESH. Alexey Kuznetsov and Alexey Shastov received commendations from the Governor of the Zabaykalsky Krai, Dmitry Sharin and Mikhail Pesterev received commendations from the Director General of the ARMZ Uranium Holding Co, Evgeny Yakimov and Oleg Chepurny received Certificates of Commendation of the General Director of the PIMCU.

"At the moment the Government of the Zabaykalsky Krai is actively working to ensure the earliest implementation of the Mine No.6 Construction being the most important project of the entire region. A letter has already been sent to the President of the Russian Federation, in which we ask for assistance in making a positive decision on financing the main part of the project at the expense of Rosatom State Corporation, and also we ask to support the initiative to allocate the necessary resources to finance the project infrastructure from the federal budget.” - Dmitry Kochergin noted.

It is worth mentioning that the drifting of the horizon 7D is an important component of the project "Optimization of developed reserves" created by the Shaft-Sinking Division of PIMCU. Its main idea is to increase the height of the lift between the horizons at the mine No. 8 by 30 m, from 60 to 90 m. An effective opening system will allow reducing the mine development costs by about 1.5 billion rubles. In the future, such system is planned to be used at the development of the mine No. 6, where the height of the lift is already 120 m. The increase in the height of the lift allows reducing the time and costs for the construction of mine opening, which in its turn ensures timely preparation of the extraction front for realization of the medium-term ore mining program.

At the end of the official ceremony of acceptance the horizon 7D into operation, the shaft sinkers went down to the level of 629 m, where construction of the 9th horizon of the mine No. 8. was started. So far, 70 meters have been passed. And after finishing the sinking operations at the mine No. 8, the Shaft-Sinking Division is ready to proceed to the construction of the horizons at the Mine No. 6. "If everything goes according to the plan, just in two years, when we will have finished the ninth horizon at the eighth mine, the infrastructure of the new mine will be ready, the sewage treatment facilities of the mine waters will be constructed and we will start the sinking of new horizons at the mine No. 6." - Andrei Ryazanov says.