During the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, PhosAgro and Orica signed a 10-year contract for drilling and blasting works in the open-pit sites of PhosAgro subsidiary Apatit, and the supply of emulsion explosives for underground mining.
The contract is effective from June 2015 to December 2025, and is valued at RUB 12.5 billion for drilling and blasting works. This will mark third phase of cooperation between Orica and Apatit, and includes Orica undertaking all drilling of blastholes on the open-pit mines. Orica will use its own drilling rigs on the Vostochniy mine, with similar plans for the Tsentralniy pit of the Rasvumchorr site from January 2016.
The alignment between PhosAgro and Orica started in 2010, with the launch of a program to introduce emulsion explosives at Apatit.
The first stage of cooperation was in 2011, with the signing of a contract on the supply of bulk emulsion explosives and lease of equipment used to produce and load explosives underground. As a result, 100% of breakage and 85% of development is done with the use of safer, more effective and cost effective emulsion explosives at Apatit.
The relationship between the two companies extended to Orica’s construction of an emulsion explosives plant at Apatit’s Vostochniy site and associated blasting works. The plant officially opened in December 2014, with the associated products and emulsion explosives production capacity fully covering the needs of Apatit and third parties. From the beginning of March 2015, Orica started performing blasting works in the open pits of Apatit.
At the signing, Orica EMEA Zone Executive Richard Brown said: “The close collaboration between Orica and PhosAgro has made it possible to extend our agreements in drilling and blasting in the Apatit sites. Our relationship to date and the agreement signed today demonstrate the genuine partnership between the two organisations that is resulting in lasting mutual benefit for both sides. Orica is proud of its strong alliance with PhosAgro and considers Russia an important strategic partner.”
PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev thanked the partners for fruitful cooperation and stated that “use of new technologies, development and purchase of modern equipment and introduction of high-tech procedures aimed at improving safety, higher performance and greater efficiency in our drilling and blasting operations are key priorities for both PhosAgro and our partner Orica.”
Apatit is the world’s largest producer of high-grade phosphate ore (P2O5 content > 35.7%) – phosphate rock and Russia’s only producer of nepheline concentrate. It is developing six deposits: Kukisvumchorrskoye, Yuksporskoye, Apatitovy Cirque, Plateau Rasvumchorr, Koashva and Njorkpakh. Ore is extracted from four mines: •Kirovsky, Rasvumchorr (underground mining), Central and Vostochny (open-pit mining), with a combined ore extraction capacity of some 26 Mt/y.
