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Mechel Finishes Laying Railway Tracks to Elga Coal Complex
01/13/2012 - Mechel OAO has finished laying tracks along the entire route of the railway link from Ulak station to the Elga coal deposit, opening traffic along the entire route from Baikal-Amur Mainline’s Ulak station to the Elga deposit.
Mechel OAO has finished laying tracks along the entire route of the railway link from Ulak station to the Elga coal deposit. The last section of track for the railway link, which is being developed by Mechel Mining OAO subsidiary Yakutugol Holding Company OAO, was laid in December 2011.
Completion of the new link has opened traffic along the entire route from Baikal-Amur Mainline’s Ulak station to the Elga deposit. The railway track’s construction has thus far required investment of some 40 billion rubles, or approximately 1.25 billion US dollars based on the Russian Central Bank exchange rate of 31.87 RUR/$ as of January 11, 2012.
Mechel began construction of the new link to the Elga coal deposit, which involved laying 321 kilometers of tracks, in February 2008. Mechel Mining OAO subsidiary Metallurgshakhtspetsstroy ZAO was general contractor for the project, which involved the support of some 70 contracting parties from various Russian regions.
The railway was built in difficult climatic and geological conditions, and a total of 76 bridges were built in the course of the railway’s construction.
“The railway’s completion is one of the most complicated and important stages in implementing the unique project of developing the Elga coal deposit, which is one of the world’s largest coking coal fields,” noted Chairman of Mechel OAO’s Board of Directors Igor Zyuzin. “The launch of direct railway access to Elga Coal Complex will in 2012 significantly facilitate delivery of materiel necessary to increase production at Elga, as well as allow rail transportation of coal mined at the deposit.”
Mining at the Elga open pit began in August 2011, producing some 200,000 tonnes by the year’s end.
Mechel, one of Russia’s leading companies, conducts business in four segments: mining, steel, ferroalloy and power. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore concentrate, nickel, ferrochrome, ferrosilicon, steel, rolled products, hardware, heat and electric power, and its products are marketed domestically and internationally.
