GMK Noril'skiy nikel' : More mining equipment delivered to Bystrinsky GOK

By the end of 2017, Bystrinsky GOK will receive over 30 new units of modern mining and auxiliary equipment. Overall, the initiative will see around RUB 4 bn in funding from Nornickel.

In August, Bystrinsky GOK added four BELAZ mining trucks to its fleet, with another six to be delivered by the end of Q3 2017. In Q4 2017, the fleet will also receive eight Caterpillar mining trucks with a payload of 90 and 180 tonnes, three Liebherr mining excavators with a 22 cubic meter bucket, two Liebherr bulldozers, and other auxiliary equipment. The equipment's enhanced technical parameters will ensure maximum productivity when loading and transporting the largest possible volume of ore in a short period of time.

Currently, stripping is done by eight trucks, two excavators and two bulldozers. For seven months of this year, Bystrinsky GOK mined 3 mt of ore, and with the new equipment, it is well set to reach the target output.

The equipment is perfectly fit for the harsh climatic conditions of the Trans-Baikal Territory. It features modern on-board computers to monitor, in real time, both volumes of transported rock mass and the system and unit parameters.

The foreign equipment's performance was highly praised by the Company's specialists. Dmitry Chetverikov, Deputy CEO for Industrial Assets at GRK Bystrinskoye, highlighted the new equipment's easy maintenance and increased service intervals that reduce downtime and boost productivity. He also noted that all equipment is under warranty from the manufacturers' service companies that have on-site representative offices.

For reference:
The Bystrinsky project operated and controlled by Nornickel comprises infrastructure and mining subprojects. The mining subproject focuses on the development of the Bystrinsky gold-iron-copper deposit with total balance reserves of 343 mt of ore located in the Eastern Siberia, 550 km south-east of Chita (the administrative centre of the Trans-Baikal Territory), and the construction of Bystrinsky GOK (Bystrinsky mining and processing plant comprising four open pits and two process lines of the concentrator). The commissioning of Bystrinsky GOK is scheduled for 2017, with the plant to reach its 10 mtpa design capacity in 2020. The infrastructure subproject provides for the construction of a 234 km long 220 kV Kharanorskaya GRES - Bugdainskaya power line and a 223 km long Naryn - Gazimursky Zavod railway as part of the public-private partnership.