A new $US100 million longwall face has been commissioned in seam 21 at Mechel’s Olzherasskaya Novaya mine.
The new equipment, supplied by China’s CODCO, will use a sub-level caving method, enabling thick seam mining of up to 10m.
The mine will produce 1.5 million tonnes for a year, with monthly extraction of 150,000-180,000t.
Mechel’s Olzherasskaya mine extracted its first tonne of coal in September 2006 and its first million tonnes in 2007.
The mine is expected to reach design capacity at 2.4Mtpa by 2010.
This month Mechel was forced to cut its coking coal prices by 15% as a government punishment for abusing its market position.
