Norilsk-1

The Norilsk 1 Mine Administration came into being in February 1999 as the result of a directive from the director of the Norilsk Combine (directive No. 503, 20/10/98). It comprised the Zapolyarny, Medvezhy Ruchey and Angidrit mines, along with the Coal and Nonmetalliferous Mining Administration, now known as the Kaierkanski mine.

The Zapolyarny Mine
The mine became known as "Zapolyarny" in 1959. As a territorial and administrative mine, the Zapolyarnii facility brought together the independent mines No. 7/9 and No. 8. The 7/9 mine had come into being with the conglomeration of mines No. 7 and No. 9 in 1952. Therefore, the date on which the Zapolyarny mine came into existence is considered to be the date on which work on Mine No. 7 was authorised, which was brought about by directive No. 608 issued by the head of the Norilsk Labour Camp and the Ministry of Internal Affairs on August 2, 1945.

The mine's field has been developed by means of western and eastern galleries, an air-supply and skip cage shaft (9 bis), an air-extraction and skip cage shaft (7 bis), and transport and conveyor ramps from the western side of the Medvezhy Ruchey mine. The territory is being mined using the panel and block method.

The work carried out at the mine is concerned with the deep-cast extraction of subterranean impregnated sulphide copper and nickel ore by the method of level-by-level forced excavation and single-stage extraction. . The ore breaking is carried out in strips of 12 metres in width and 30 - 60 metres in length. The rock mass is drilled with holes of 105mm diameter from top to bottom, and with holes of 60mm diameter from below. Each 30m, overhanging rock is brought down by means of explosions of rows or fans of boreholes with a diameter of 105mm. The ore is discharged by scraping back into the drift.

The ore is delivered to the Norilsk enrichment plant by means of an underground rail system.

In 2000 the Zapolyarnii underground mine was united with the Medvezhy Ruchey open-cast mine as a single subdivision of the Norilsk 1 Mine Administration.

The future prospects of the deep-cast part of the enterprise are concerned with increasing the quantity of impregnated ore extracted in the western and southern sections of the Norilsk 1 ore field, the exploitation of conveyer transportation for delivering the ore to the enrichment plant, the utilisation of a system of undermining and frontal emission (the so-called "Swedish Variant"), and the use of high-capacity self-regulating transport and boring equipment.

The Medvezhy Ruchey Mine
The open-cast Medvezhy Ruchey mine has been engaged in the exploitation of the Norilsk 1 deposits of sulphide impregnated ores since 1945.

The mine has been reconstructed on numerous occasions in the course of the years, with changes in techniques and equipment employed.

At the present time, the main features of the colliery are as follows:

The seams have been developed by means of permanent internal descents along the eastern, southern and western sides. It is proposed that a permanent northern descent be constructed, with the north-western and the eastern descents being connected by a crosscut, which would result in the two descents being interchangeable.

A conveyor system with stripped rock mass being stored at internal and external slag heaps with a height of up to100m.

The surface area of the colliery is 2,500 metres by 1,100 metres (the colliery's southern area of operations).

An area of 1,723 hectares, including a colliery of 380 hectares.

The actual depth of the colliery is 360 metres, with a projected depth of 435 metres.

There are 23 benches, with working benches at a height of 15 to 20 metres.

Extracted materials are loaded by BelAZ vehicles with a capacity of 40 tonnes. The colliery's road system extends for 29 km.

The original proposal to exploit the Zapolyarnii mine's reserves allows for the possibility of delivering ore from the Medvezhy Ruchey colliery by means of conveyor to the Norilsk enrichment plant.

With the solution of the problem of removing the subterranean water from the colliery's lower section, the mine will be able to provide enough reserves for extraction to proceed according to the required volume for the next 15 years.

The Angidrit Mine
On November 27, 1975, the Deputy Minister for Non-Ferrous Metallurgy gave the go ahead to a State Commission proposal for the first phase of the Angidrit mine, with an annual production capacity of 500,000 tonnes of anhydrite. With the commission of the second phase on January 1, 1984, the mine's production capacity will grow up.

The Gorozubovsk anhydrite deposits have been developed by means of two central transport galleries, (for load-carrying and empty returns), two ventilation galleries (western and eastern) and two ventilation shafts (western and eastern). The galleries follow the most productive seam of anhydrite at an angle of 2M to 6M.

The transport galleries are 1,140 metres in length, and have a cross-section of 26.8 m².

The extraction of anhydrite is carried out by means of the room-and-pillar system, utilising boring and explosive excavation.

Mineral resources are delivered to the mine's storage facilities by MT-431 and MoAZ-74051 dump trucks.

The main consumers of the Angidrit mine's output are the filling complexes at the Talnakh mines (for the production of filling material) and the building industry (for the production of cement). Delivery is made by NZhD cargo rail.

The prospects for the expansion of production at the Angidrit mine are entirely dependent on the demand for its products from the various MMC Norilsk Nickel facilities for the production of filling materials (at the Talnakh mines) and cement.

The Kaierkanski Mine

The Kaierkanski coal deposits were first discovered in 1940, and were prospected in detail up to 1957. The development of the Kaierkanskii Coal Mine No. 1 ("KCM 1") began in 1957, and between 1962 and 1964 further prospecting work was completed of a second coalfield ("KCM 2").

With companies switching to gas based fuels, the old coalmines, along with KCM 1, were abandoned, and, as of 1970, the excavation of coal and sandstone has only been carried out at KCM 2.

The Kalargonski limestone deposits were discovered in 1935. Until 1947 limestone was mined by open-cast methods, but since then it has been carried out by deep-cast methods at the Izvestnyakov mine. Since 1983, both limestone and dolomite have been mined on the southern flank of this field at the Izvestnyakov quarry (which was formerly a prospecting and operating section).

Both KCM 2 and the limestone quarry make use of a conveying system, which includes the facility to transport stripped rock mass to external and internal slag heaps. Some of the limestone mined at the Izvestnyakov mine is extracted by the room-and-pillar method using automated subterranean equipment and dispatch via conveyor belt to a sorting centre.

The Kaierkanskii mine carries out the extraction of fluxing sandstone, coal (Kaierkanski colliery No.2 - KCM 2), technological limestone, dolomite (at the limestone mine, a former regional operational administration centre), and cement limestone (at the Izvestnyakov mine). All work is carried out by means of boring and explosive excavation.

Consumers of the mine's products are:

The smelting works of MMC Norilsk Nickel (fluxing sandstone and coal)
The Taimyr (Dolgano - Nenetski) Autonomous Region (coal)
The construction industry (limestone and dolomite)

In addition to this, the mine transports slag to the Stowage, Technological and Building Materials Administration and to the Talnakh mines.

The prospects for the excavation of nonmetalliferous mineral resources are dependant on the demand for them at MMC Norilsk Nickel's smelting facilities and construction complex.

Modern imported diesel-driven boring and excavation equipment (Tamrock, Liebherr) is being brought into use at the mining facilities, and there are plans to construct a servicing centre for the equipment used on site, which will also house coal-crushing equipment.