OREANDA-NEWS. June 29, 2011. “Uralelektromed” (a metallurgical enterprise of UMMC) plans to accomplish the construction of the air shaft at the underground mine of “Safyanovskaya Med” (subsidiary of “Uralelectromed”) by autumn of 2012. The air shaft construction budget is 350 million rubles.

The air shaft is a vertical excavation that in future will serve as an escape way and fresh air intake. The air shaft’s depth will make up over 490 meters, the diameter – 4.5 meters. At the moment drift miners have already reached the level of over 60 meters deep.

The mine itself is being constructed in parallel. 400 meters of excavation have been already passed under an angle of 6 degrees. Speed of drifting is over 120 meters per month. Note that this underground mine will differ due to untypical scheme of developing. The traditional vertical shaft for ore up-take will be replaced by a sloped motor road, by which special shaft dump trucks will move the ore out.

The company has finished the mine entrance, assembled the complex of Finnish equipment “Tamrock”: rock loading-and-hauling machine, dump truck and drilling rig “Minibur”. The construction budget for the objects at ventilation-and-waste level makes up about 300 million rubles. ‘Now at the Safyanovsky mine we have installed almost complete technological complex of Russian mining equipment: 15 hoists of different purpose, boring tower for continuous operation, lifting machine, compressor, ventilation stations, and firefighting station’ – Technical Director of “Safyanovskaya Med” Victor Krupnov said.

Remind that this summer we plan to finish the construction of the mine substation with the capacity of 10 MVA. New substation will be the main power resource of the underground mine. State-of-the-art power equipment will make possible to consume twice the quantity of electrical power.

As it was reported, in spring of 2010 UMMC started the construction of the underground part of the Safyanovsky mine being the second stage of mine development. At the moment the open pit is operating, and this year the subsidiary “Safyanovskaya Med” plans to mine 1.4 million tons of ore. The Safyanovskaya shaft will be at a depth of 500 meters. The confirmed reserves of the underground mine will make up 11 million tons of ore containing copper (3%), zinc, gold, and silver. The design capacity of the mine will be 500 thousand tons of ore per year. Putting mine into operation is expected in 2015, and reaching the design capacity – in 2017.

Project of the underground mine construction is prepared by the institute “Mekhanobr” (scientific complex of UMMC, Ekaterinburg). The construction work is fulfilled by the company “Trest” Shahtspetsstroy” of Belogorodskiy underground mine construction department and by the underground mine construction department of “Gaisky GOK” (an enterprise of UMMC, raw material complex, Orenburg region).