Bogatyr resumes operations

After a temporary shutdown of mining operations, TOO Bogatyr Komir, a joint venture of RUSAL and the Kazakhstan state-owned holding Samruk-Energo, fully resumed extraction and delivery of coal to power plants in Kazakhstan and Russia on 30 June 2009.

In June, Bogatyr miners completed scheduled maintenance of mining and energy equipment including repair of two bucketwheel reclaimers and modernisation of another reclaimer together with TAKRAF specialists from Germany. Other suspension-period activities include repair of the railway system at the Bogatyr mine; reconstruction of railway terminals; and overhaul of the overhead wiring.

Repair and maintenance activities enabled Bogatyr Komir to resume the required rate of operations within the first day of work and ship 95,000 tonnes of coal to its customers. Overall, the plant will ship 2,840,000 tonnes of fuel in July including 1,616,000 tonnes to Kazakhstan and 1,224,000 tonnes to power plants in Russia.

Suspension of Bogatyr in June did not affect operations of Kazakh power plants which had been supplied with fuel reserves in previous months. Starting in July, the power plants will commence preparatory activities for the winter and start generating new coal reserves.

Having sold 14.4 mln tonnes of coal in H1, 2009, TOO Bogatyr Komir sets a higher target for the second half of the year, hoping to produce and sell over 20 mln tonnes of coal.