LYUBAN DISTRICT, 15 July (BelTA) – The construction of the Nezhinsky mining and processing factory will be finished on schedule, BelTA learned from Chairman of the Board of Directors of IOOO Slavkaliy Mikhail Gutseriyev on 15 July after a session of the construction staff.
The chairman said: “We are staying on schedule and will finish [construction work at the Nezhinsky mining and processing factory] on time, as specified by the contract. We were behind in matters of standards and technical documentation, but we've caught up since then. Some facilities are lagging behind by perhaps 30 days but it is inconsequential.”
There are plans to increase the number of personnel working on site in order to accomplish this year's plans regarding the construction of housing, power lines, and the power substation. “We will finish the gas pipeline in September,” Mikhail Gutseriyev said. “The shafts are 50% finished.”
“Additional forex revenues are the most important thing this project will give to Belarus. We will also create new jobs. We are going to commission two residence buildings this year and another two next year,” the businessman added. Specialists of the contractor Bobruisk Large-Panel House Building Plant are working hard on the first house out of the four ones meant to accommodate the company's personnel. The three-porch house will have 80 one-bedroom apartments and ten two-bedroom ones. Vigorous preparations for building the next house have begun.
Work has been finished on a number of facilities at the construction site of the Nezhinsky mining and processing factory. The construction of the overburden rock dump site has been finished as well as automobile transport infrastructure, which includes 15 roads on site and one access road. Power installations have been finished as well as a temporary storage area for materials, melioration systems have been restored, and the railway station Urechye has been reconstructed.
The shaft boring roadheaders (SBR machines) made specifically for Slavkaliy by German Herrenknecht continue shaft sinking operations. It is the first time the technology has been used in Europe. It offers safe working conditions and meets the highest environmental standards without using explosives. Tubing supports of the cage shaft and the skip shaft are now past water-bearing strata or virtually half way to the second potash horizon. The assembly of a tubing column out of cast iron for the sake of waterproofing and steady bracing of the shaft for the entire service life will be the next stage. OAO Mogilev Plant Strommashina is busy making tubing supports and delivering them to the construction site.
Work to create the necessary infrastructure of the future enterprise is in full swing on the surface. As many as 11 facilities now have design documents and are in the active construction phase. Those are the administration buildings and the amenities one, the automobile transport division, and warehouses. Work is in progress to build an overhead power line and a gas pipeline 43km long.
The construction of the administration and amenity block continues. The framework of the building designed to offer a comfortable life environment (shower rooms, toilets, a canteen, and other premises) to the miners will be finished in July. The construction of the second wing of the administration and amenity block has begun: specialists of the contractor OAO Minskpromstroy are done with piles and have started building the foundation. Parts of the administration and amenity block will have different numbers of floors. The five-story building will house Slavkaliy Company's directorate while the four-story one will house the future mine administration.
Work is in full swing to permanently provide the Nezhinsky mining and processing factory with electricity for the duration of the service life. There are plans to build a 110kV step-down substation Nezhinskaya to distribute electricity across the enterprise. Slavkaliy finished design specifications and estimates for the facility on 15 July and is busy buying equipment. The Nezhinskaya substation will be connected to the existing substation 110/10kV Kaliynaya, which is located 20km away from the Nezhinsky mining and processing factory. As much as 40% of the work has been done: the contractor is busy building foundations for utility poles and installing metal structures.
Boring operations and accomplishment of six artesian wells 140m deep have been done. They will provide water to the future enterprise. The Nezhinsky mining and processing factory will need about 6,000-7,000m3 of drinking water and utility water per day. The construction of water intake facilities is in full swing. A pump station for drinking water has been manufactured. Installation is supposed to begin in summer. A water pipeline 5km long to the Nezhinsky mining and processing factory has been built.
The construction of fire-fighting networks is nearing completion. A temporary network of pipelines has connected an artisan well on site and two reservoirs able to store 1,500m3 of water. Startup and commissioning of a temporary pump station have been finished. The equipment has been tested and is ready to take care of fire safety during shaft sinking operations at the site.
The Nezhinsky mining and processing factory based on the Starobinskoye potash salts deposit will be the second enterprise in Belarus to mine potash salts and make potash fertilizers. It will be able to make up to 2 million tonnes of potassium chloride per annum. The investment project provides for building one mining facility in addition to a processing plant, a gas turbine power plant for proprietary needs, railway infrastructure, automobile roads, housing infrastructure, and other kinds. IOOO Slavkaliy is in charge of implementing the project. The company is part of Mikhail Gutseriyev's Safmar Group. Construction of the Nezhinsky mining and processing factory began in 2017.
