Tag Archives: Igor Semenov

First Ore Mining and Metso Outotec strike thickening plant deal for Pavlovskoye

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The First Ore Mining Company (FOMC), part of ARMZ Uranium Holding Co, says it has signed a cooperation agreement with Metso Outotec “underlining the parties’ interest in continuing their strategic partnership in the design, supply, installation, control and commissioning of the thickening plant for the Pavlovskoye field”.

The agreement waas signed by Igor Semenov (right), Executive Director, FOMC JSC, and Markku Teräsvasara (left), Vice President, Metso Outotec.

The Pavlovskoye polymetallic deposit on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago is the largest such deposit in Russia with 47.7 Mt of ore reserves (2.49 Mt f zinc, 549,000 t of lead and 1,194 t of silver), according to First Ore Mining.

The cooperation with Finland’s Outotec (since merged with Metso to make Metso Outotec) emerged more than a year ago on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which gave rise to an initial pact. Since that time, the company’s experts, together with Aker Arctic Technology, have elaborated a detailed draft design for the floating concentrator and set out a preliminary thickening flow chart and main equipment layout, First Ore Mining said.

In September, representatives from Metso Outotec visited the Pavlovskoye field. In the course of the field activities, the company examined the site for the planned thickening plant, tailings pond and infrastructure facilities, First Ore Mining said. It also acknowledged the ore samples were representative and could be used in testing.

The next stage within the partnership will include tests to be carried out at Metso Outotec Research Center in Pori, Finland. Once the work is completed and the final thickening flow chart is developed, Metso Outotec will present the guaranteed performance indicators and design values to ensure the plant’s productivity and the high quality of the concentrates and metal extraction for the ore types studied, FOMC said.

Semenov said: “I am confident that working together with Metso Outotec will significantly improve the thickening indicators for Pavlovskoye ores, which were obtained during the studies in the previous years. As a result, we will produce premium concentrates that are in demand in the global lead and zinc markets.”

Teräsvasara added: “Indeed, it is quite interesting to participate in the development of this unique project for processing minerals in the Russian Arctic. In addition to standard technological and economic matters, harsh weather conditions, lack of infrastructure, and high requirements to environmental safety in the vulnerable Arctic wildlife have made us search for the best available technologies to cover all these points.”

The Pavlovskoye project includes plans to build the northern-most mining and processing plant to produce lead and zinc concentrates, with First Ore Mining as the project operator.

ARMZ, Aramine partnership brings battery-powered narrow vein LHD to Russia

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ARMZ Mining Machinery says it has become the first and only company in Russia and the CIS producing lithium-ion battery-powered mining equipment through a collaboration with Aramine.

The company, part of ARMZ Uranium Holding Co, has started producing the mining equipment in Krasnokamensk, in the Trans-Baikal Territory of Russia, at the site of Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union (PIMCU, PJSC is a part of ARMZ Uranium Holding Co).

The project is being implemented under an industrial partnership agreement ARMZ Uranium Holding Co and France-based Aramine, signed in April 2019. As part of this pact, ARMZ Mining Machinery is the project operator.

ARMZ said the production from Krasnokamensk will cover the internal needs of ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corp (of which ARMZ is a part of), and let the company enter foreign markets with competitive products.

The ARGO LHD 140B is designed specifically for underground work in narrow-vein deposits, according to ARMZ. Based off the design of the Aramine miniLoader L140B, it has a width of 1.1 m and a bucket carrying capacity of 1.3 t. A 50 kW engine and a lithium-ion battery pack provide high mobility and continuous operation for up to four hours; at the same time, offering low noise, minimal heat transfer and no gas contamination in the mine. The machine significantly outperforms the requirements of the Russian standards in industrial safety, according to ARMZ.

Ivan Kiselev, Director General of PIMCU, PJSC, said: “New LHD machines will let us efficiently and reliably carry out operations for the loading and transportation of ore inside the stopes. The transition to a new battery-powered narrow-vein equipment is an economically viable solution aimed at reducing operating costs and improving the quality of ore mining.”

Igor Semenov, Executive Director of ARMZ Mining Machinery, said the production of the ARGO LHD 140B means ARMZ Mining Machinery has become the first and only company in Russia and the CIS producing lithium-ion battery-powered mining equipment.

He explained: “We adapted the Aramine design and specifications to Russia standards, organised the technological process: in-house production of the structural frame, arms and dippers, assembly of body parts, installation of components, start-up and commissioning of machines. Our next step will be the localisation of the production of lithium-ion batteries and the expansion of the product line with other types of underground equipment.”

The first serial vehicles have already passed factory tests, according to ARMZ, and will be sent to the uranium mines of PIMCU, PJSC this month. In 2021, the ARGO LHD 140B will enter the Russia market and will then gradually become available in other countries within the customs union, it said.

First Ore-Mining looks to VIST’s AI solution for Pavlovskoye lead-zinc development

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First Ore-Mining Company and ZYFRA have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that could see the Pavlovskoye lead-zinc deposit deploy artificial intelligence-based solutions for mining and processing operations.

Pavlovskoye is set to become the most northerly mine in Russia, once First-Ore, a Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corp division, moves ahead with development. It is scheduled to have a 3.5 Mt/y ore processing capacity.

The MoU document was signed at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum by Igor Semenov, Executive Director of First Ore-Mining Company, and Igor Bogachev, CEO of ZYFRA.

Bogachev said: “It is more difficult for companies to operate in extreme climatic conditions because of factors such as the high cost of resources and special work safety regulations. The robotised systems offered by our subsidiary, VIST Group, including Intelligent Mine, will reduce equipment downtime by 10-20% and maintenance costs by 15-18%, thereby cutting production costs by 2-3%.”

Intelligent Mine is a set of digital technologies for managing open-pit mining processes based on robotised lоad and haul systems, together with industry solutions in the fields of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics. “One of the advantages of the system is that it enables extraction of minerals in inaccessible and remote regions with severe climatic and subsurface conditions,” the digital solutions provider for heavy industries said.

The parties aim to explore a possible project to implement robotics and remote control of quarry equipment at the Pavlovskoye deposit of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. A bilateral working group will be set up within 45 days for this purpose, while the MoU covers a period of three years.

Semenov said: “Rosatom State Corp and First Ore-Mining Company have a strong focus on occupational safety. We are beginning this work in advance, so that the very first ore will be produced using advanced technologies in the safest possible conditions. Cooperation with Zyfra, which has extensive experience in developing digital smart solutions, will help us achieve this.”