Attack of Belarusian robots. Kemerovo region and Khakassia will become pilot regions, on the coal sections of which the first Belarusian unmanned robotic quarry dump trucks will be used.
Five 130-ton «BelAZ» equipped with GLONASS sensors will be delivered by the end of the year to the Pervomaysky (SDS) section in Kuzbass and two to the Chernogorsky (SUEK) section in Khakassia. According to experts, the cost of a robotic dump truck from Belarus is 15-20% more expensive than usual, and its «intellectual» component will pay off on average in a year.
Robotics today is a world trend, it is especially important in hazardous industries: the safety of open mining works is increased due to the removal of a person from the danger zone.
SUEK rolled up its sleeves
In January-June of this year, the enterprises of the Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK) produced 55.6 million tons of coal. In comparison with the same period last year, the increase in production was 4%. Sales volumes in January-June of 2018 increased by 12% compared to the same period last year, amounting to 59.9 million tons of coal and other bulk cargo. The volume of international sales for 6 months increased by 6% and amounted to 28.6 million tons of coal and other bulk cargo.
The main areas of international sales are South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Turkey, Vietnam, Spain and Morocco. The growth of sales in the domestic market was 18%. Russian consumers sold 31.3 million tons of coal, 25.8 million tons of which were shipped to electricity companies.
Russia and China will throw a coal on the Yerkovets thermal power station
Russia and China will return to the issue of developing a feasibility study for the construction of the largest in Russia coal-fired power plant at the border of the two countries, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. According to him, the consultations will be conducted by Inter RAO and the state electric grid company of the PRC together with the Russian Ministry of Energy. The design capacity of the power plant will be 4 GW, it is also planned to build a power line to China and start the development of the Yerkovetsky coal mine.
Mechel Teaches Chinese Language
Mechel extended the agreement to supply coal from Baosteel Resources, a subsidiary of China Baowu Steel, China’s largest steel group. The agreement notes long-standing reliable relations established between the parties based on the principles of trust and mutual benefit provided by stable long-term supplies of coking coal.
The new agreement will be in effect from July 2018 to June 2019. During this period, the Russian company will send the Chinese up to 700 thousand tons of coking coal premium brands. Under the terms of the contract, a significant amount of coal will be delivered to JSC «Yakutugol» — up to 40 thousand tons of products monthly. The price will be set by the parties on a monthly basis.
Putin handed the award to the Krasnoyarsk miner
Vladimir Ilyin, an excavator driver of JSC «Razrez Berezovsky», a member of SUEK, was awarded the Order of Honor. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin handed a high award to the Krasnoyarsk miner at a ceremony in the Catherine Hall of the Kremlin. Vladimir Ilyin has been working at the Berezovsky section for about 40 years: he came to the town of Sharipovo in the Krasnoyarsk Territory in 1981 from the Chelyabinsk region, where he already had experience working at an open coal mining enterprise.
«They heard that a large Komsomol building was being set up in Siberia, and they had come here with fellow students in a vocational school,» recalls Vladimir Ilyin. — Not everyone survived domestic difficulties and weather conditions, many guys left, but I stayed. And I do not regret it at all. Berezovsky section and Sharypovsky district became my destiny «.
In the Amur region, 550 million tons of coal were mined
In June, the Amur region produced 550 million tons of coal since the inception of the coal industry in the region. This result could be achieved by miners for 86 years of operation of the Dalvostugol enterprise, and subsequently — Amursky Coal JSC, which is part of the Russian Coal company. Solid fuel in the region began to be extracted since 1932.
During this time, 28 coal mines were commissioned in the region. Currently, the brown coal produced in the Amur region goes not only to the region’s own needs, but also shipped to other regions of the Far East. It is used by large energy enterprises and housing and communal services.
«Vorkutaugol» purchased smartphones for work underground
JSC Vorkutaugol, a part of PJSC Severstal, purchased special spark-safe smartphones for diagnostics of mining equipment and conducting labor safety audits. Before descending into the mine, an underground electrician gets a smartphone, enters the Mobile TORO application (maintenance and repair of equipment) under his credentials and goes to the workplace. In the mine workings alongside the mechanisms and aggregates, special reading marks are installed.
If you bring a gadget to them, then on the screen there will be operations that the employee has to perform. The beginning and the end of each stage of work of the electrician marks on the screen. In case of detection of any malfunction, the application allows you to select the necessary unit or node from the list, describe the detected damage and even attach the photo. When connecting a smartphone to an underground Wi-Fi, the message is sent to the site mechanic’s computer, and the electronic fault database promptly analyzes the data. Now the first 12 intrinsically safe smartphones are being tested at the Zapolyarnaya mine.
STOCK MARKET
Semen Nemtsov, Senior Analyst, IC Russ-Invest :
— Since the beginning of the year the index of metallurgy and mining of the Moscow stock exchange is in the outset, slightly decreasing by 3%. At the same time, the price of coking coal fell by 33% (FOB Australia). To keep «afloat» domestic miners, in my opinion, allowed the devaluation of the ruble: since the beginning of the year the Russian currency has depreciated against the US dollar by 10%. At the beginning of this year, coal prices were adjusted after the rapid growth in the third quarter of 2017, which was due to a decline in business activity in China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region, as well as lifting the moratorium on coal production in China.
The latter factor is expected in the near future to have a restraining effect on the dynamics of coal prices.
