UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 12, 2016. EVRAZ Holding’s Raspadskaya Mine is about to start working on new Seam 6-6a (in-place reserves: over 127m tons of valuable GZh coal), EVRAZ Holding Siberia’s press office reports.

The jobs are expected to begin in the third quarter of 2017 when Long-face 4-6-33 has been launched. The new seam will provide the mine with things to do through 2030; this will require some 90m RUR worth of investments.

‘Getting Seam 6-6a ready is currently Raspadskaya’s top priority project, as this will keep us afloat in the long run. Our geological surveys indicate the seam is full of high quality coal, which will help us remain the market leader,’ says Raspadskaya Coal Company’s Director-General Sergei Stepanov.

A surface tech facility is also being built to support the mining work. The shaft workers will have to do around 20km of excavation jobs before the seam can get started on. Excess methane will get extracted with the help of a module degassing station and a combined airing scheme. This, in combination with dust-trapping, firefighting, and air blasting appliances, will make the mining process safe.