#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In the spacious room of the center, the video panel is most impressive. The entire mine can be seen on dozens of screens from top to bottom – to a depth of one and a half kilometers.
The director of Taimyrsky conducts a tour of it, prefixing his story with information about the work that preceded the opening. More than 200 points of wireless data transmission systems were installed in the underground part of the mine. A positioning system was installed on drilling, LHD, auxiliary machines and electric locomotives – on all equipment that moves underground.
In addition, the systems were installed on the main equipment involved in ore mining within the framework of the AMCS program (automated mining control system). Investments in the project amounted to more than 136 million rubles, the director of the mine Alan Alborov said. Of these, 91 million were spent on equipment and communications, 45 million – on a video wall. One part of it is intended for mining dispatchers, the second – for employees of the operations center – planners and chief specialists.
“As you can see, we have a connection both with the underground part of the mine, and with the entire block from the face to the surface storage”, Alan Alborov commented on the processes taking place on the screens. “The operability of autonomous points is fully visible, we see the operation of the main equipment in real time”.
On the next screen, there is a 3D modeling of mining operations in the Miсromine, MineSched systems, the head of Taimyrsky continued his excursion. These are not only planning tools, they also enable hourly control. The screen displays both the work plan for the shift and the situation at the given hour. You can find out how much ore is being exported and whether there is a lag. The dispatcher can respond to both the operation of all major equipment and processes related to production.
“The main mining base of Nornickel is located in the Polar Division, and the company continues to digitize its mines”, Nikolay Utkin noted after the tour. “This is a very important component of the success of our work”.
Taking into account the timing and results of the work done at the mines in Norilsk, the opening of such centers can be called an unprecedented leap in a qualitatively new development of the ore base, Nikolay Utkin emphasized:
“Because today the task is not like earlier: the more volumes, the better. We have switched to a new quality, where the result is to work as you plan. For this, such systems exist today. The main thing is speed, reaction, response and safety issues are of no small importance, of course. Not all of the world’s mines have such systems installed. I believe that we are already quite advanced in this regard”.
Centers similar to the one that opened at Taimyrsky mine already exist at Komsomolsky and Octyabrsky ones, recalled Talgat Mushtekenov, deputy director of the Polar Division for the mineral resource complex. Progress will not stop there:
“The design of a similar center at Skalisty will begin in May 2021, the work will begin in July. I think that on October 31, we will already commission the operation center at Skalisty. More than 170 million rubles will be spent. In parallel with Skalisty, design will begin at Mayak, and by the end of 2021 all mines of the Norilsk industrial complex will have their own operational centers. They will help us manage our mining operations more efficiently. The course towards digitalization is taken all over the world today. We keep pace with all companies”.
The total investment in equipment for the centers at all five mines of Nornickel will amount to 400 million rubles.
Text: Tatiana Rychkova, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko
