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World Coal
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July 2015
R
ussia is better known for its oil
and gas industry but it also has
the largest metallurgical coal reserves
in the world.
World Coal
spoke to
Sergey Stepanov, Vice President and
Head of the Coal Division at Russia’s
largest metallurgical coal miner, EVRAZ,
about developments in the country.
Could you provide some
background on the Russian
coal industry and EVRAZ’s
place in it?
According to the World Coal Association,
Russia has the fourth-largest reserves of
metallurgical coal in the world – after the
US, China and Australia. EVRAZ is the
largest metallurgical coal miner in Russia
and one of the global industry leaders.
Key EVRAZ coal assets are located in the
Kuzbass region – one of the largest coal
basins in the world and renowned for its
high-quality coal. It is situated in western
Siberia and contains 725 million t of
proved, minable reserves of premium
metallurgical coal – distinguished by the
thickness of seams and high
concentration. Kuzbass represents 70% of
Russia’s hard coking coal reserves and
78% of the metallurgical coal production.
EVRAZ’s coal assets in Kuzbass are
represented by two companies:
Yuzhkuzbassugol and Raspadskaya,
which are managed by the united team of
Raspadskaya Coal Co. Together, they have
seven underground mines, including
Raspadskaya, the largest metallurgical
coal mine in Russia, one opencast mine
and four washing plants. EVRAZ also
owns the Mezhegeyugol coal project,
which is still under construction in the
republic of Tyva in Eastern Siberia. Total
reserves are 2.1 billion t of coal. EVRAZ
mines metallurgical coal and produces
concentrate. Its products include
semi‑hard coking coal, semi-soft coking
coal, customised coking coal blends and
pulverised coal injection (PCI) coal.
In 2014, EVRAZ mined 21 million t of
coal and produced 14 million t of
concentrate. The company provides
approximately 40% of its metallurgical
coal to support own steelmaking
operations, as EVRAZ is one of the
leading producers of steel products in
Russia. The rest is sold in the Russian
market to other top steel producers, as
well as exported to customers in China,
South Korea, Japan, Europe, Turkey and
the CIS. In 2014, export volumes exceeded
3 million t of coal concentrate.
Could you describe the
progress made since
the Raspadskaya mine
explosion in 2010?
In 2014, the company completed
restoration works at the Raspadskaya
mine and it started mining at all four
longwalls. Its production reached
4 million t of raw metallurgical coal for
the first time since 2010. As a result,
Raspadskaya increased mining volumes
by 31% compared with 2013 and mined
10.2 million t of coal. This year, the
company plans to mine about
10.5 million t. Traditionally, approximately
half of the produced concentrate is
exported. Mine production can be
increased up to 7 – 8 million tpy but as the
company has reached a balance in
volumes and coal grades among the
different mines of Raspadskaya and
Yuzhkuzbassugol, it prefers to increase
volumes gradually, keeping in mind the
global and the Russian market trends and
demands. Meanwhile, Raspadskaya
continues working on quality
improvements, making investments in
new equipment. Another important point
is efficiency. In 2014, the estimated cash
cost of per tonne of concentrate was
decreased by 18%, in comparison with
2013. In 2015, more cost-cutting measures
are being implemented at Raspadskaya.
Speaking about safety, the
Raspadskaya mine now uses cutting‑edge
safety equipment and technologies. Its
underground ventilation system has been
upgraded to ensure safe operations. For
example, compound ventilation provides
both for a separate methane drain and a
downcurrent from the longwall. Another
feature is seam degassing when boreholes
are drilled from surface into rock cavity.
Neutral gas and nitrogen are supplied
to the goaf in order to reduce oxygen
concentration to below 10% – preventing
self combustion. Dust suppression
systems are applied for dedusting
purposes at face ends.
All underground roadways and faces
are covered by Flexcom position control
systems, while the mine atmosphere and
equipment are controlled through Granch
MIS – a multi-function safety system.
EVRAZ pays great attention to
providing safety for its employees by
organising regular safety trainings and
other events enabling miners to work
safely.
Beyond Raspadskaya, what
other coal assets is EVRAZ
developing?
In addition to the Raspadskaya mine,
Raspadskaya Coal Co. operates two more
underground mines and one opencast
mine, located near Mezhdyrechensk in the
Kemerovo region. Yuzhkuzbassugol,
located near Novokuznetsk, also in the
Kemerovo region, has five mines. The fifth
is Yerunakovskaya-VIII, which was
EVRAZ’s greenfield project launched in
February 2013. This state-of-the-art mine
INTERVIEW
Sergey Stepanov, Vice President and Head of the Coal Division, EVRAZ
