Russian phosphate mining major PhosAgro has announces the launch of industrial trial runs for the new +10 m level at the Kirovsky mine of the Apatit mining and beneficiation plant. The first 400 t batch of ore from the new level was delivered to the processing plant. The Kirovsky mine remains the flagship mine of the Kirovsk branch of Apatit (PhosAgro Group). It implements key investment projects to develop the enterprise’s ore and raw material base.

Developing the +10 m level is the largest of them. It compensates for levels that are being shuttered and will not only maintain the mine’s overall output volumes but will also increase them from 22.8 Mt in 2021 to 25 Mt of ore by 2025. The output of the +10 m level is expected to reach 1.6 Mt of ore per year in 2022, 2.7 Mt in 2023, and by 2028 it will reach 9.4 Mt per year.

Around 2,000 people from more than 50 contractors were involved in the installation and preparation of the facility for operation. The work was carried out underground, without the use of cranes due to limited space. “The most advanced technologies and technical solutions are used as part of the implementation of the investment project. In particular, we have installed ballastless rail tracks, railway rolling stock with an increased carrying capacity, crushing and haulage complexes with modern equipment, which provides the specified output of the continuous handling system of each floor side, as well as materials and technologies that extend the service life of structures,” said Director of the Kirovsk Branch of Apatit Andrey Abrashitov.

The +10 m level development project began in December 2015. The investment project is expected to be completed in Q4 of 2023. Its financing will surpass RUB 26 billion over the next eight years. “This is a real project of the future. Not only because it employs cutting-edge technology. These investments will shape the prospects of the Apatit plant and PhosAgro as a whole for decades to come, ensuring a dependable raw material foundation for mineral fertiliser producers. This is an essential contribution to the stable supply of eco-efficient mineral fertilisers to our priority domestic market, which is also in demand in more than 100 countries around the world,” Andrey Guryev, CEO of PhosAgro commented.