Sibirginsky underground coal mine
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The Sibirginsky Underground Coal Mine (шахта Сибиргинская) is an underground mine near the village of Chuvashka, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia.[1]
The mine is separate from the surface Sibirginsky coal mine which is part of the same complex.
Location
The undated image below shows the exact location of the mine's offices.
Background
The Sibirginsky Underground coal mine is operated by Southern Kuzbass Coal, a subsidiary of Mechel. Southern Kuzbass Coal Company was formed in 1993 when several mining and processing enterprises were joined.[1] Southern Kuzbass Coal Company joined Mechel Group in 2003.[2]
In 2014 the second part of the mine was opened, adding 0.9km2 to the mine.[3]
In October 2019 a new longwall was opened, lying 450 meters deep and is 220 meters long, with an average seam height of four meters and an extraction panel of 750 meters.[4]
The mine produced 0.8 million tonnes in 2021, 0.9 million tonnes in 2020 and 0.4 million tonnes in 2019.[5]
In November 2022 the mine celebrated its 20th anniversary, having produced 17.7 million tonnes since its opening.[6]
A report from February 2023 stated that the mine started preparations for commissioning of a new self-propelled drilling machine designed to produce wells up to 600 metres deep and 0.5 metres in diameter.[7]
A video of the mine's operations is available.[8]
Southern Kuzbass Coal Mines
The Southern Kuzbass mines include four surface mines and three underground mines. All mines are located in southeast Kuzbass around the town of Mezhdurechensk. The Southern Kuzbass mines and the related washing plants produce semi-soft and semi-hard coking coal, anthracite, PCI and steam coal. The Kuzbass operations are connected by rail to the Trans-Siberian Mainline and substantially all products are shipped by rail. Products are generally shipped by rail to Russian customers, to northwestern Russian ports for European customers, to Port Posiet and Port Vanino for export to Asia and to Port Temryuk for customers in the Black Sea and Mediterranean basins.[5]
As of January 1, 2021, in-situ reserves at Southern Kuzbass's seven coal mines are estimated at about 1.8 billion tonnes. The project capacity of the company’s mines totals 15 million tonnes annually, while washing capacity totals 17 million tonnes.[9]
Expansion
Southern Kuzbass has been looking to expand the Sibirginsky underground coal mine to cover additional 7.6km2, an area larger than the current operating licenses of 6.8km2.[3] This project was initiated in 2009[3] with a planned increase of output to 2.4 million tonnes per annum.[3][10] As of the end of 2018, Mechel reported that RUB 4,569 million (ca USD 67 million at 2018 exchange rates) was spent on the project in total.
As of the end of 2021, the expansion of the mine was still reported 'in development'[5] and the production of the mine remains below 1 million tonnes. The reasons are unclear. This project is therefore considered Shelved.
Opposition
The predominantly indigenous Shor village of Chuvashka lies 2km south of the Sibirginsky mine. The Shors are shamanist and animist, believing that mountains, streams, forests and soil have souls. While their beliefs have evolved over time, their deep connection to nature remains.[11] According to Russia’s 2010 census, there were 12,888 Shors in the entire country, with 10,672 living in the Kemerovo Oblast. In 2014, it has been estimated that the number of Shors living in the region has fallen to between 4,500 and 5,000.[12]
Local people say that the coal mines which surrounding Chuvashka pollute the water, making it undrinkable. The mines produce dust which blows off the waste tips and into the rivers and the animals have fled the area, leaving the Shor people heavily reliant on bought goods, rather than foraging and hunting their own food and medicines, as they have done within living memory. The extension of the Sibirginsky coal mine meant that the Shor village of Kazas was cleared of residents in 2012. The former residents are angry that they cannot freely access the graves of their ancestors and that armed security guards control the access to the former village.[13]
Prior to the destruction of the village, living conditions in Kazas had become unbearable. Sicknesses increased. The fresh streams where people retrieved water and caught fish had become undrinkable. Coal dust coated their garden vegetables. Explosions became the soundtrack to their lives. The mining company even set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the village.[14]
There were five houses in Kazas destroyed by fire in in 2013. Local people suspect the coal company, but the arsons have not been investigated. The local people say that this was a direct consequence of the residents refusing to sell their homes to the coal company.[15]
150 households in the village of Kurya were displaced, many of them moving to Chuvashka, because of the expansion of the Sibirginsky coal mine.[16]
Mine Details
- Owner: Southern Kuzbass Coal Company PJSC
- Parent: Mechel
- Location: Chuvashka, Kemerovo Oblast
- GPS Coordinates: 53.613953, 87.822139 (exact)
- Status: Operating
- Production: 0.8 million tonnes (2021), 0.5 million tonnes (6m 2022)[17]
- Total Resource:
- Total Reserves: 51.5 million tonnes [5]
- Coal type: Bituminous (Met)[18]
- Mine Type: Underground
- Start Year: 2002[3]
- Source of Financing:
Project Expansion Details
- Status: Shelved
- Capacity: Increase of 1.4 Mt up to 2.4 Mt [3][10]
- Mineable Reserves:
- Start Year:
- Source of Financing: Company and Sberbank[19]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mechel, "Southern Kuzbass," Mechel website accessed 4 February 2020.
- ↑ Mechel, "History," Mechel website, accessed 4 February 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Mechel, "Form 20-F report, 2018," page 73/106, Mechel website, 2019.
- ↑ Mechel, "Mechel Reports Launch of New Longwall at Southern Kuzbass," Mechel, 7 October 2019.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Mechel (2021). "Form 20-F 2021". Retrieved September 2022.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|access-date=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Шахта «Сибиргинская» «Южного Кузбасса» добыла за 20 лет почти 18 миллионов тонн угля". mechel.ru. November 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "«Южный Кузбасс» повышает темпы бурения". www.vnedra.ru. February 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Video (10 February 2014). "ШАХТА «СИБИРГИНСКАЯ»".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Mechel 'Mining'". mechel.ru. Retrieved September 2022.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|access-date=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Шахта «Сибиргинская»". miningwiki.ru. Retrieved September 2022.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|access-date=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Daria Andreeva and Anne Harris, "Slow Death in Siberia," page 14-15, Fern and Coal Action Network, May 2018.
- ↑ Daria Andreeva and Anne Harris, "Slow Death in Siberia," page 15, Fern and Coal Action Network, May 2018.
- ↑ Anne Harris, "Slow Death in Siberia," Red Pepper, 17 May 2018.
- ↑ Daria Andreeva and Anne Harris, "Slow Death in Siberia," page 11, Fern and Coal Action Network, May 2018.
- ↑ Anti-discrimination centre, "Kuznetsk Basin: Indigenous Peoples Threatened with Extinction," Anti-discrimination website, 9 august 2019.
- ↑ Daria Andreeva and Anne Harris, "Slow Death in Siberia," page 10, Fern and Coal Action Network, May 2018.
- ↑ "СУЭК удерживает добычу за счет бурого угля". www.argusmedia.com. July 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Mechel, "Form 20-F report, 2018," page 74, Mechel website, 2019.
- ↑ "Сбербанк кредитует новые шахты в Кузбассе на миллиарды рублей". ngs42.ru. 17 December 2010.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
