“Exemplary, highly productive, environmentally friendly mine”, – so the delegation of leading Russian and Azerbaijani gold companies described the Jokosivu mine of the Australian company Dragon Mining in Finland. The director of the combined mine, Timo Ridaskoski, shared his experience in organizing work and operating safety, showed a rescue chamber with an air supply for 8 hours (in case of an accident), delegates visited the working horizon, where production is under way, and inspected water treatment facilities. He drew attention to a uniquely low rate of injury: over the past 6 years the company has had one minor injury.
The participants in the Industrial Geology section also visited the core storage facility of the National Geological Administration of Finland in Loppi, where more than 3,000 km of core samples of various rocks from all known deposits and mining ore bodies of Finland are stored.
Representatives of Outotec, Weir Minerals, Epiroc, Mineral Exploration Network, Mine On-Line Service, IMA Engineering Ltd, Dr Yulia Cherepanova, Finnish Association for the Sustainable Development of the Mining Industry, etc. spoke to the participants of the seminar.

Photo 1 – Delegation at Jokisivu Mine

Photo 2 – Mining Stope at Jokisivu Mine

Photo 3 – Delegation is Looking at Core Archived at Loppi Facility

Photo 4 – Russian and Azeri Geologists at Core Storage in Loppi

The program of the seminar was very intense and included a series of technical visits to the ports of Belgium, Holland, Germany, and to the coal mine and the fully automated coal depot Boksberg.

The seminar participants were extremely impressed by the achieved level of digitalization and reduction of human labor, used during the transshipment of iron ore and coal in the ports, high operational efficiency, which the operators of Hansaport in Hamburg were able to achieve. Hansaport is the largest port for transshipment of coal and iron ore in Germany, where it processes up to 110,000 tons of iron ore and 70,000 tons of coal per day. The storage area for 2 million tons of iron ore and 1 million tons of coal is 350,000 square meters. On the territory there are 4 unmanned locomotives, located 14 km of railway tracks and 10 km of conveyor belts. There are 5 combined stackers and reclaimers working at the same time, and a unique automatic dust suppression system is located throughout the territory. All loading and unloading operations at the port are fully automated.

In the photo: Participants during the inspection of the Hansaport Dispatch Office.

In the photo: Loading of river barges and small-tonnage vessels.

In the photo: Participants get acquainted with the unloading of coal from the Panamax class bulk carrier in the port of Hamburg. The operation must be accurate and synchronized by all participants in the process by the minute due to ebbs and flows to avoid vessel downtime – and most importantly, the dry cargo ship of this class should not be stranded.

In the photo: Automated dust suppression system in action. The diameter of the spread of the jet reaches a diameter of 90 m, effectively covering all areas of the storage of coal and ore.

In the photo: All work is controlled by one operator.

In the photo: The participants of the seminar, accompanied by the leadership of the North Sea Port on the captain’s yacht, inspect the water area of ​​the port of Ghent and the main moorings.

Recently, the two Dutch ports of Wisingen and the Belgian port of Ghent merged into a single commercial structure. The participants familiarized themselves with the work of stevedoring companies and visited the sea terminal for the storage of coal of the company Sea-Invest, on the territory of which 350 plugs of different grades and coal mixtures of various shippers are stored at one time.

In the photo: inspection of the dust suppression system at the Sea-Invest terminal.

In Boxberg, the trip participants visited the largest coal warehouse in Germany, owned by LEAG, which is part of the energy concern Vattenfalle. Over the past 20 years, together with Siemens, the energy concern LEAG has been automating and dispatching transportation from coal mines, storing, mixing different grades and the subsequent shipment of coal, making Boksberg one of the most advanced enterprises in the industry. Here a fantastically high level of automation has been achieved, in particular, a 3D model of warehouses with data on quantity and qualitative composition is used, and simple technology for 8 years of operation amounted to less than 1 percent.

In the photo: During a visit to the control room.

In the photo: During the inspection of the warehouse.

The German specialists were open to discussion with their Russian colleagues, which made the seminar extremely informative. Indeed, it is one thing to listen to presentations from equipment suppliers and consultants, and another to see firsthand how a fully digitized warehouse of bulk cargo works.

The application of CRIRSCO, JORC, NI-43101 and NAEN standards in assessing the geological reserves of metal ores and other solid minerals was considered in practical terms at a seminar in London from 11-17 November 2018.
Mark Campodonic, Director and Consultant, SRK (UK) shared extensive experience in auditing mineral reserves and preparing reports on reserves and reserves with delegates from Kazakhstan and Russian geological and mining companies. This topic is particularly relevant now for the Republic of Kazakhstan, where in 2018 it was decided to introduce international standards for reporting reserves and reserves of KAZRC / CRIRSCO.
Phil Newall, CEO and Dr Yulia Cherepanova from Wardell Armstrong, Luke Balleny from the International Mining and Metallurgical Council, Hilco van Moerkerk, GEOREKA software developer HvM, Michael Pernette from Canadian Geosoft and others also spoke at the seminar.

Photo. At presentation by Mark Campodonic, Director and Chief Consultant, SRK (UK) Ltd.

Photo. Seminar attendees – resource geologists from Kazgeology, Altynalmas, Norilsk Nickel and ArsellorMittal Temirtau

In October 2018, Russian and Kazakhstani mining companies visited the highly automated underground mines of the Garpenberg company Boliden and Zinkgruvan of Lundin, as well as the production and engineering center of Epiroc in Orebro, Sweden. The topic of dispatching and digitalization remains extremely relevant. The participants of the technical visit had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the activities of dispatching centers both on the surface and at the level of 1,100 meters underground, with the software used, to ask questions to the operators, to visit the working complex, to have a look at the equipment in action and to see the digitized mine.
The Russian and Kazakh participants of the seminar had the opportunity to ask a lot of questions to their Swedish colleagues, followed by a discussion on the practical aspects of digitalization, the activities of unmanned vehicles, posting WIFI on working horizons, planning shift work, industrial safety and labor protection, etc.
Representatives of Polymetal, Norilsk Nickel, AltynAlmas, VIST Asia, Vorkutaugol, Uralkali, GSK-Shakhtproekt, RUSAL, Uralmekhanobr (UGMK) and others took part.

Photo. During a visit to the dispatch control company Boliden at the mine Garpenberg.

Photo. Visit the working space and familiarize yourself with the drilling operations.

Photo. Demonstration of remote control of the “Mine of the future” equipment and software testing while managing a digitized mine at Epiroc.

Photo. Workshop participants during speeches.

The managers and specialists of Evraz and Norilsk Nickel studied the organization of work at two concentrators at Somincor’s Neves Corvo mine, the Portuguese branch of the Canadian company Lundin, and heard technical reports from leading automation and productivity specialists in the enrichment and logistics units. Great interest was also aroused by the reports of Mark Yseboodt – Siemens AG, Harri Hokka and Harri Lehto – Outotec and Eugen Becker – Thyssenkrupp.
At Neves-Corvo, the workshop participants met with managers and specialists and visited two concentrators at the Somincor mine. At one factory capacity of crushing and enrichment of copper ore is 2.6 million tons per year.
The second factory with a capacity of 1.0 million tons per year, originally intended for the processing of tin, is now producing zinc and copper concentrate.
In both factories, equipment for secondary crushing, grinding systems with rod and ball mills, flotation cells, and systems for compacting and dewatering concentrate are installed.
At the processing complex, additional equipment was mounted for re-grinding of copper tailings with the aim of additional extraction of copper and zinc concentrate from old tailings.
The total number of personnel in two factories that work in five shifts is 219, which also includes maintenance workers, workers of the tailing dump, water purification and drivers of transport for the processing plant.
The mining village of Castro Verde pleasantly impressed the Russian processors with their well-groomed, modern design of houses and a comfortable hotel.

Photo 1 Crushing workshop

Photo 2 The Russian delegation examines a zinc concentrator

Photo 3 Workshop participants in the Neves-Corvo flotation plant

A representative delegation of leading specialists and managers of oil and gas and drilling companies of Russia and Azerbaijan participated in the program of technical visits organized by the Transeuropean Centre and the international drilling conference in Celle.
It was here in 1859 that the first oil well in Europe was drilled. Now in Celle – Hanover there is a cluster of oilfield services companies and manufacturers of innovative equipment for the oil industry.

Participants of this business trip made detailed acquaintance with mobile drilling rigs, coiled tubing units, installations for automatic connection of pipes and other equipment for drilling and production of oil and repair of wells on offshore and onshore platforms.

The delegation visited the technology and production centers of the companies Baker Hughes, Max Streicher GmbH, KOLLER Solutions, Instral BV and Weatherford, as well as the Drilling Simulator Celle at the Clausthal Technical University.

Among the participants of the event were senior managers and engineers of LUKOIL-Nizhnevolzhskneft, Tatburneft, Drilling Systems Co., Gulf Drilling Supply Azerbaijan and Tyumen Industrial University.

Photo: The delegation is viewing latest equipment by Weatherford.

Photo: Russian and Azerbaijan oil and drilling delegation at Celle Drilling Simulator.

A week-long industry seminar program was held July 30 – Aug 3, 2018 in Germany on improving the profitability of coal enterprises through enrichment and deep processing of coal drawing from the experience of the German coal company RWE.

The participants of the technical seminar met with specialists of German companies including DMT, RWE, Kuettner, Schenck Process, Loesche, Siebtechnik and Schauenburg MAB, visiting these companies in Dusseldorf, Essen, Darmstadt and Frankfurt am Main. The visit program was intensive.

The main topics of the seminar are related to the development of coal enterprises in the context of stricter requirements for coal specifications, deep coal processing, use of new coking technologies, including in the new generation furnaces.

Representatives of Russian coal-mining and coke-chemical companies, including Stroiservice, Altaykoks, Sibugol, SUEK, Raspadskaya Coal Company visited factories and research centers for the development and production of coal-conditioning equipment: screens, mills, centrifuges, hydrocyclones, crushers, equipment for sorting, classification and sorting of coal.

Within the framework of the seminar and question and answer sessions, the participants studied in detail the latest technologies and innovations in coke chemical production.

Photo: The Russian visiting the company Kuettner.

Leaders and leading specialists of wind energy programs of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus representing the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus, PJSC “Sberbank”, “Vista International” LLP, wind energy design organizations, visited a large wind farm “Brake” near Bremen, taking part in the program of technical visits on wind energy.

Participants of the seminar thoroughly acquainted themselves with the latest technological solutions of the equipment manufacturers for wind farms Enercon GmbH and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy GmbH Gerhard Bookjans, member of the board of IFE Eriksen AG, shared the financial and economic calculations and payback calculations for wind energy projects in Germany, Canada, the United States and the Baltic States, proven in 30 years of practice, and demonstrated the company’s solutions implemented at the Brake wind farm.
Sabine Schmedding, representative of Bundesverband WindEnergie e.V. (German Wind Energy Association) shared detailed information about the laws and regulations governing the design and construction of wind farms and the system of technical regulation in Germany.
The seminar was also attended by a group of specialists from German companies Fichtner and Messer involved in the design, construction and maintenance of wind farms in Germany and other countries.

Photo: participants of the seminar visit the wind farm “Brake” near Bremen

May 21-25, 2018 in Antwerp and Rotterdam, a group of heads of the sea trade ports of Ust-Luga and Vysotsky, the stevedoring company Maly Port, employees of SUEK, TIS-Ruda, Daltransugol, OTEKO and NPK MorTransNiProject visited the ports and terminals of Rotterdam and Antwerp, taking part in the program on efficient operation and bulk cargo terminals.

In Belgium, the workshop participants visited the Port Authority of Antwerp, where an extensive session and series of reports on financial and economic indicators and planning activities of the Antwerp port and modeling the calculation of cargo flows took place.
The meeting discussed the optimization of the logistics chain in the port of Antwerp through the use and development of an integrated digital system for all participants in the transport process – the Antwerp Port Community System. This system greatly simplifies the procedures for the declaration of dangerous goods and the passage of customs procedures.

In the photo: participants of the seminar at a meeting with the leadership of the port of Antwerp.

Subsequently, the group, accompanied by an interpreter and specialists of the port, visited various terminals, including the newly modernized SAMGA bulk cargo terminal, where delegates got acquainted with grain loading and unloading equipment. The seminar participants also visited the Sea Tank oil loading terminal, inspected the berthing equipment and witnessed the loading of liquid cargo and oil products.
In addition to the size of the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp and the volume of freight flows, the seminar participants were very impressed with the degree of automation of loading and unloading operations, the minimum number of personnel involved and the high productivity of all operations.
In Holland, the workshop participants visited Portbase and got acquainted with the Port Community System (PCS), a nationwide integrated system for the logistics chain, including container, oil and other terminals, freight carriers and all other participants in the transport infrastructure of the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Participants had an opportunity to walk on the captain’s yacht and inspected the water area of ​​Europe’s largest port of Rotterdam.

In the photo: on the captain’s yacht during the survey of the water area of ​​the port of Rotterdam.

A key element of the technical visit in Holland was the visit of two coal terminals: EBS in the area of ​​Europort and EMO, the largest coal terminal in Western Europe.

Participants familiarized themselves with the Maaslakte 2 project to expand the port area of ​​Rotterdam, where the EMO coal terminal is located and transshipment of 200,000 tons of coal per day takes place with a high level of automation.

April 16-20, 2018 in Dubai, a program was held to study advanced technologies and implement blockchain and processing large amounts of data (big data).

Participants from Russian companies: SUEK, MTS, Sberbank AST, Skolkovo, Sberbank, Gazpromneft, etc., visited the Future Accelerator Fund of Dubai and the organization of Smart Dubai (the government agency for the implementation of the block Chain and Digital Initiatives), the Dubai Gold and Commodity Exchange, the Global Blockchain Council and two technoparks designed to develop and implement start-ups.

The choice of venue is linked to the Dubai Blockchain Strategy and the decision of the Government of Dubai to create the “Most Intelligent City”, where the functions of data storage and processing, interaction with government bodies and third parties and management of the main processes will be translated into blockchain. The strategic goal is to translate all document turnover, transactions, processing and storage of data in government and government institutions in Dubai to blockchain until 2020. This will save 5.5 billion dirhams (1.5 billion USD) annually, reduce 25 million man-hours by transferring more than 100 million documents to the blockchain, which are now being processed in traditional ways.

Seminar participants met with Dubai Future Accelerators, the head of the start-up program in the UAE, Dr. Noah Raford. His speech was extremely informative and considered prospects for development and how the world, business, work processes, the human environment may look in 30 years.

Photo: mettings at Dubai Future Accelerators.

Photo: meeting at DGCX Exchange.

Photo: meeting at в Smart Dubai.