Tag Archives: JSW

Cat cogeneration system helps JSW power Knurów-Szczygłowice coal mine

Coal technology, Environmental, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Steel and iron ore, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Caterpillar Inc says Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa SA (JSW), the largest producer of high-quality hard coking coal in the European Union, has selected Cat dealer Eneria Poland to supply an integrated cogeneration system at its Knurów-Szczygłowice coal mine in southern Poland.

Commissioned in June, the system uses coal mine methane (CMM) to produce up to 12 MW of power and 12 MW of thermal energy. The electricity is used to supply power for conveyors, compressors, coal processing, mine ventilation systems, and other operations, Cat says. The captured thermal energy is processed through heat exchangers to maintain the proper temperature in the mining workspace.

Designed, installed and commissioned by Eneria Poland, the system is anchored by three Cat CG260-16 generator sets capable of operating on gas from the mine with methane content ranging from 40-70%. Eneria Poland will also provide ongoing support for the system through a three-year customer value agreement, according to Cat.

Andrzej Szymała, Chief Investment Engineer at the Knurów-Szczygłowice mine, said: “Safeguarding the health of our employees and minimising the environmental impact of our operations on neighbouring communities are key pillars of our corporate social responsibility strategy.

“The cogeneration system designed by Eneria Poland for the Knurów-Szczygłowice mine will reduce methane emissions and improve the safety and comfort of our employees’ working environment while providing electricity and heat through innovations that improve our bottom line.”

The cogeneration system at the Knurów-Szczygłowice mine is the latest in a series of initiatives by JSW to improve its environmental footprint. The coal miner is currently building a facility to convert by-products of the coking process into critical industrial materials, including lightweight, durable carbon fibres, carbon adsorbents for purifying liquids and gases, and carbon nanostructures used in lithium-ion batteries and numerous other applications, according to Cat.

JSW employs other equipment supplied by Caterpillar in its operations, including Cat plow systems for longwall mining at its Borynia-Zofiówka and Pniówek mines.

Sven Buehler, Territory Manager for Gas Product Sales at Caterpillar, said: “JSW has made a demonstrated commitment to sustainability that has delivered tremendously positive results for the communities where it operates as well as its employees. The system will support the expansion of JSW’s environmental initiatives and further improve the quality of life for its many stakeholders.”

Caterpillar and its dealer network offer power systems for mines ranging from the largest surface and underground operations down to the smallest quarries, it says. The solutions are engineered to keep operations running reliably and efficiently while protecting the safety of crew members.

JSW launches Komatsu Bolter Miner at Budryk coal mine

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JSW, this week, started operating its Bolter Miner 12CM30 at the Budryk coal mine, in Ornontowice, Poland, one of the deepest hard coal mines in the world.

The first bolter miner of its kind in the Polish mining industry, according to JSW, the Bolter Miner was developed by a consortium including  JSW Innowacje, JSW, the Central Mining Institute and Komatsu Mining (Joy Global).

Last year, the system successfully passed all the start-up tests and, in September, the machine was handed over to JSW. On November 12, it started drilling the “Bw –1N badawczy” exploration roadway in seam 401 at the underground mine.

Adam Domżoł, Head of Mining at the Budryk mine and Coordinator of the ‘Independent Rockbolt Support’ project, said: “We have before us nearly 2,000 m of excavation and bolting of the new roadway using the new technology and new machinery. After the research and development stage is completed, the complex will allow us to achieve a much greater progress in roadway excavation than any solutions that were previously used in the Polish mining sector.”

The Bolter Miner was purchased by JSW Innowacje, a subsidiary of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa, in 2018 as part of the ‘Independent Rockbolt Support’ project. The miner was manufactured in the US and arrived in Poland in early August 2019.

The machine was transported to the Polish seat of Komatsu in Tychy and, there, the miner was assembled and underwent all the necessary tests. In the meantime, the crew currently operating the bolter miner was trained. Then the machine was disassembled again, transported to the Budryk mine and hoisted down to the specially-prepared assembly chamber, where the bolter miner was re-assembled and prepared for operation.

According to the manufacturer, the maximum speed of work is 27 t/min of excavated material, which translates into lower cost advances, according to JSW.

Tomasz Śledź, Vice-President of the JSW Management Board for Technical Matters, said: “The rockbolting technology has been widely used globally: in Australia, South Africa, Russia and in the Czech Republic. It is much cheaper than frame supports and equally as safe.

“The cost of preparatory works in the mines of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa represents a significant portion of coal mining costs, so the company is seeking more efficient solutions. The use of rockbolting is an opportunity to reduce our expenditures incurred in the mining preparation process.”

JSW continues growth strategy with launch of Bzie-Dębina coal mine

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Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa (JSW) has launched its newest underground coal mine, Bzie-Dębina, located in Jastrzębie-Zdró, Poland.

The new mine consists of the renamed John Paul shaft (previously 1-Bzie) and new buildings, including the winding engine and the temporary administrative building. Subsequent buildings will be built over the upcoming year, JSW said, adding that there were also plans to sink another shaft, a ventilation shaft, in the nearby community of Zebrzydowice. The company intends to invest PLN3 billion ($748 million) in its newest mine by 2033.

“Twelve years ago, this site consisted of just mud, a meadow and barren land. My colleagues from the management board and I visited this spot in January 2007 and we said: ‘There will be a mine here.’ And that is exactly what has happened,” Włodzimierz Hereźniak, President of the Management Board of JSW, said this week at the mine’s opening ceremony, adding that the company planned to spend roughly PLN922 million in capex on this mine in 2019-2022.

Poland Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, who participated in this week’s ceremony (pictured, speaking), said no modern economy can exist without steel, and, with that, coking coal. “This highly modern mine will be needed in Poland and across Europe,” he said. “It should be pointed out that coking coal is recognised by the European Union as a strategic raw material. That is why we should be glad that we are expanding its capacity.”

The new mine’s recoverable coal reserves are estimated to be approximately 180 Mt. Some 95% of these reserves comprise hard coking coal located in two deposits: Bzie-Dębina 1-Zachód (71.4 Mt, concession valid until the end of 2051) and Bzie-Dębina 2-Zachód (106.4 Mt, concession valid until the end of 2042).

Extraction from the first longwall may commence in 2022, according to JSW, with Seam 404/1 being the first operational seam. Ultimately JSW intends to establish four operational longwalls prior to 2030, with the extracted material transported to the modernised coal preparation plant in the Zofiówka Section of its operations.

At full tilt, the mine is expected to extract around 2 Mt/y of coking coal, with a life of mine estimated to be at least 30 years. JSW said: “In this way, it is perfectly aligned to JSW’s growth strategy, which calls for growing its run rate, chiefly of coking coal, to 18 Mt/y in 2030.

Bzie-Dębina, at present, has more than 230 employees, with the majority of miners having been transferred from other mines within the group. They are mostly working at the preparatory works unit and the electrical and machinery units, with work primarily consisting of tunnelling work to setup mine faces. By the end of this year the mine will have 300 employees, but some 2,000 people will eventually be employed at the mine.

The decision to spin off a new mine from the integrated Borynia-Zofiówka-Jastrzębie operation was made by the JSW Management Board at the beginning of this year. Until now, the newest Polish hard coal mine had been the Budryk coal mine in Ornontowice, which began to extract coal in March 1994.

Innovative roadheader to soon start up at JSW’s Budryk coal mine

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A modern roadheader system equipped with a Komatsu Mining-manufactured bolter miner has been handed over to Polish coal miner JSW during celebrations in Tychy, Silesia.

The event, which featured a demonstration of the system’s capabilities, acted as a precursor for the hardware being delivered to the Budryk mine in Ornontowice, one of the deepest hard coal mines in the world.

The coal miner said: “JSW’s decision to purchase the roadheader may mark the most significant technological breakthrough in the Polish mining industry for many years. The research and development project, entitled ‘Independent Rockbolt Support’, is an innovative technology which may change not only the roadway works performed in JSW mines, but also may provide valuable inspiration for development for the entire Polish mining industry.”

Back in January, JSW reported that SIGMA was to deliver a system normally employed for cutting longwall faces and other areas in mines for roadway excavation, employing this specialist bolter miner.

The project sought to adapt the solutions used globally in the most modern deep shaft mines in the US and Australia, among other places, JSW said.

Włodzimierz Hereźniak, President of the JSW SA Management Board, said: “This is a revolution in Polish mining. The implementation of this hardware aims primarily to increase mining and reduce its cost. All these efforts follow from our strategy providing for reducing mining costs and expediting preparatory works in JSW mines.”

The construction of the Bolter Miner 12CM30 in the US lasted one year. In May, the miner was delivered to Poland and, over the next few days, it will be disassembled and transported to Budryk.

There, it will be assembled in the “Bw –1N badawczy” roadway – a process expected to take around three weeks. The miner will start working in the pit in November. cutting longwall faces and other areas in mines to be used for roadway excavation employing a specialist bolter miner.

The roadheader will be equipped with a 5.6-m wide cylindrical cutting head, with the project involving construction of six anchors in the pit’s ceiling and three anchors in the sidewalls. According to the assumptions, the roadheader will drill 15 m/d in the pit.

The project is the company’s response to the challenges awaiting it in the years to come, one of them being the need to increase the front of preparatory works in its deep coal mines.

The modern system to be used in JSW has been developed by a consortium of cooperating entities: JSW Innowacje as the consortium leader, JSW, the Central Mining Institute and Komatsu Mining (Joy Global).

Becker builds safety into new longwall for JSW coal mine

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Becker Mining Systems has demonstrated the possibilities of a modern longwall system in a planned delivery to Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa’s (JSW) Budryk coal mine, in Poland.

The longwall complex produced by Becker Warkop Sp.zoo, in Poland, is one of the most modern in the industry, according to the company. It will work in Europe’s deepest coking coal mine, Budryk, owned by JSW.

Before the longwall complex arrived at the mine, Becker Warkop hosted a factory test and presented its capabilities to the management of JSW on August 6 (pictured).

Tomasz Budniok, CEO of Becker Warkop Sp.zoo, said: “The longwall complex, which we hand over to JSW, is one of the most modern complexes of this type in our country. Innovative technical solutions have been applied in it. The complex ensures safe operation and high efficiency.”

The new complex will operate in the Cz-2 face in the 405/1 deck at a depth of 1,290 m. This is the first longwall made available within the JSW investment program, ‘Construction of the 1290 level’, according to the company.

The commissioning of the longwall will initiate the exploitation of the seams 405/1 and 405/2, which have resources amounting to 68.5 Mt of hard coking coal, according to JSW. The commencement of the exploitation of longwall Cz-2 is planned for the turn of 2019/2020.

Włodzimierz Hereźniak, President of JSW, said, by the end of the year, the processing plant of the Budryk mine will be modernised and prepared for the production of high-quality coking coal.

“At the same time, we will start underground mining of deposits rich in good quality coking coal,” he said. “According to the current strategy, the share of coking coal in the Budryk mine’s production in 2020 will amount to over 50%, including hard coal – and will increase in subsequent years to about 65%. When launching new walls, we introduce new technologies, without which the development of JSW is impossible.”

The Cz-2 wall is 205 m long and almost 900 m in overall length. The average thickness of the seam is 3.1 m, and its resources amount to over 750,000 t of hard coal. The longwall complex to be used in the Cz-2 longwall consists of 118 Becker Warkop powered roof supports, each 1.75 m wide. The 7LS22 longwall shearer, the loader and the longwall conveyor are manufactured by Komatsu (Joy).

In addition to all the necessary equipment in the longwall system, an air-conditioning system has also been integrated to improve the working conditions of miners at the face, according to the company.

Engineers at Becker Warkop Sp.zoo took care of the safety of miners working directly at the face by designing, among other things, a passage for the crew in front of and behind the powered roof support section stands, the company said.

In accordance with the requirements of the mine, the safety of the workers servicing the shearer has also been ensured, with 24 of the 118 powered roof supports equipped with specially designed telescopic wall shields to protect the workers from falling rocks at the shearer. Another innovation will be the section geometry control system.

JSW to study autonomous longwall coal operations in Poland with Komatsu

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Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa (JSW) and Komatsu Mining Joy Global have signed a letter of intent looking into the use of modern, autonomous longwall systems at the Polish coal miner’s operations.

The two companies signed the research and analysis pact on September 28 in Katowice during the Congress of New Industry EXPO.

“The implementation of high-technology mining technologies used in mines in North America and Australia aims to increase the safety of miners working in the most difficult conditions,” JSW said in a statement translated from Polish to English.

“Modern wall systems limit the presence of crews in the most difficult, dangerous places exposed to extreme conditions, eg very high temperatures. Computerised longwall systems allow high autonomy of longwall mining, thanks to remote control of devices and visualisation in 3D,” the company added.

Daniel Ozon, president of JSW, said the company would start researching the application of autonomous longwall systems this year.

“The use of modern technologies, apart from increasing the safety of the crew, also increases the efficiency of coal mining. Global technological solutions obviously bring JSW closer to the future Industry 4.0 mine.”

Poland’s JSW to become majority owner of Kopex shaft sinking business

Coal technology, Equipment maintenance, Mine shafts and equipment, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining techniques, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, , , ,

Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa (JSW), one of Europe’s largest coking coal miners, has signed an agreement to purchase a 95% stake in shaft sinking company Przedsiębiorstwo Budowy Szybów (PBS) from the Kopex Group.

The agreement covering the basic terms of the PLN 205.3 million transaction was signed on July 17 by JSW and Kopex representatives. Kopex was recently acquired by the FAMUR Group, which has a strong relationship with JSW.

Bartosz Bielak, Vice President of Kopex, said the sale had been on the cards since the TDJ Group, the parent compant of FAMUR, agreed to takeover Kopex and restructure the group back in December 2016.

“[The transaction] will allow us to focus on improving the operational model and implementing the new development strategy of the FAMUR Group,” he said (translated from Polish).

PBS’s main business is tied to shaft sinking, but it also offers construction, architectural and engineering services, in addition to rental, installation and repair of machinery and equipment for mining, quarrying and construction.

According to its website, it has carried out 132,300 m of shaft sinking, including 35,000 m in hard coal mines and 67,000m in ore mines.

The transaction is subject to obtaining merger clearance from the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, “release of encumbrances on PBS assets and on the shares to be sold in the transaction,…conclusion of satisfactory agreements with the trade unions of PBS and the two largest trading partners of PBS (Tauron Wydobycie SA and KGHM Polska Miedź SA) in order to confirm the status of the contracts, and obtaining of JSW bondholders’ consent and corporate approvals”.