OPERATION FOCUS
Belaruskali timeline
1939 : One of the discoverers of the Starobin potash deposit and the author of the geological map of the Belarus bedrock is Gerasim Bogomolov . In 1939 he founded and headed the world ’ s first Research Institute of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology . 1949 : In the spring the Starobin deposit of potash salts is discovered and in May the drilling of the first exploratory well is started . In July the first core of sylvinite crystals is hoisted from a depth of 349 m and geologists start the first drill rig . 1958 : Based on the Decree of the Head of Glass and Chemical Industry Administration No . 174 , Order No . 1 to start up the Starobin Potash Plant is issued . Oleg Timofeyev is appointed the Director of SPP , with June 21 , 1958 considered to be the date of establishment of the enterprise . The first stone is laid as a symbol of the beginning of the City of Soligorsk construction . 1960 : April 25 sees the first pithead above shaft No 2 completed and on April 30 the mineable level of potash salts is tapped at a depth of 414 m in shaft No 2 and the first bucket of sylvinite hoisted . This first sylvinite was mined by the shaft sinkers from Nikolay Gerasimenya ’ s crew . On July 26 the first underground blasting saw the start of the first horizontal mining workings . 1961 : First raw material delivered to the temporary mill . 1962 : At Mine No 2 the installation of the pithead above shaft No 1 is completed ; plus the start of shaft sinking in shaft No 3 1964 : Council of Ministers of the BSSR adopted a resolution on the construction of PU 3 and scheduled shaft sinking . Layout of axes of the shaft No 1 at PU 3 . PU 3 sinking of the shaft collar in its shaft No 1 . 1965 : PU 2 pithead construction . The State Commission accepted and put into operation the first stage of the Production Unit . 1967 : The State Commission put into operation the second stage of PU 2 . On December 24 the Processing Plant produced the first concentrate of potash fertilisers . 1969 : First stage of PU 3 is commissioned . 1971 : PU 3 pilot tests of bench mining complexes of model KMK-97k at a depth of 420 m . At PU 2 the crew of L . Kalinin with a roadheader PK-8 ( built by Yasinovatskiy Machine Building Plant JSC in Kazakhstan ) set a mining record ( 3,815 lateral metres ) and mined 64,000 t of ore . The crew of S . Kazakevich then set another record as within 31 working days another roadheader PK-8 mined 4,551 lateral metres and the crew hoisted 76,000 t of ore . Beginning of construction of PU 4 near the village Zelyony Mokh between the Soligorsk and Luban districts . The first crew of workers arrived at the building yard and made preparations necessary to sink the pit and construct the drilling mud building . The reserves of the 4th mining field ( the biggest one ) of the Starobin deposit was to be used as the main mineral resource base and covers 220 square miles . 2009 : Krasnoslobodsky ( Mine No 5 ) goes into production 2010 : Construction of a covered 10.4 km belt conveyor between Berezovsky mine and PU 1 . In October for the first time in world mine development practice the horizontal workings ( mining field of PU 4 ) and a vertical shaft ( Berezovsky mine ) are holed through . 2012 : July sees opening ceremony of Berezovsky mine headed by the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko , the Chairman of the Executive Committee of Minsk Region B . Batura and the Director General of JSC Belaruskali V . Kirienko . The certificate of commissioning of the 1st stage of Berezovsky mine is signed on June 29th , 2012 . The company also started construction of the Petrikov mining and processing plant . 2013 : JSC Belaruskali commissions NPK plant to manufacture complex NPK-fertilisers . 2014 : Commissioning of chemical plant for complex processing of chlorine-containing mineral raw material operations after the design dimensions are reached . The ice wall serves as a temporary waterproof lining , which ensures safe conditions for mining and construction works . The ice wall is kept in the frozen condition until the construction of a substructure is completed . After the substructure construction is finished the ice wall is removed . The work involves well drilling ; installation of the freezing pipes and brine network ; and construction of the ice wall with required dimensions ( active freezing ).
In recent years Belaruskali has upgraded the processing factories and replaced outdated equipment with new more efficient and costeffective machinery , changed the manufacturing flow-sheets to be more efficient and improved the production lines . Each of the four ‘ Production Units ’ consists of a mine to extract the potash ore ( Production Units 2 and 4 include two mines each ) and the factory to process the mined mineral and manufacture potash fertilisers . Additionally each Production Unit has a repair-building workshop , boiler department ( except for PU 1 served by a combined heat and power station ) and public catering facilities . Production Unit 1 also has an underground healthcare facility – the Republican Speleotherapy Hospital , which provides treatment to members of the public as well as mine staff and their families . The processing plant of PU 1 includes among other departments a department for the production of edible , fodder and technical types of salt and dry blended fertilisers . Production Unit 3 includes a shop for production of depressant reagents and a compound fertilisers plant . Production Unit 4 includes a technical salt dispatch department . JSC Belaruskali traces its history back to 1958 , with the attached timeline summarising some key milestones . The company states : “ Throughout the course of its development history the mines and processing plants of JSC Belaruskali quickly commissioned new production capacities , continuously and dynamically ramped up production , actively installed new types of equipment and introduced new mining and processing technologies , as well as expanded the range of products , and improved the quality and enduser performance of products .”
Photo from 1960 when the first pithead above shaft No 2 was completed
Also from 1960 , a patriotic parade with N . Gerasimenya holding the first potash rock produced
Mining overview
The seams which are being mined today are the seams of the 2nd and 3rd potash levels ( seams II and III ). The potash seam of the 1st level at PU 1 has been mined since 2004 . The potash seam of the 4th level is considered part of the reserves projected to be mined in the future .
Mining methods that have been used include firstly , so-called chamber mining , which was used a lot in the initial deposit development .
AUGUST 2017 | International Mining