Construction

2011

On 4 November, the first tonne of ore was extracted at the Oleniy Ruchey open pit mine. The gas station and main step-down substation were commissioned the same day, providing the mine facilities with a constant source of power.

NWPC commissioned a warehouse for supplies with an assembly platform, a filling station, and a management building in Koashva.

Construction began on the portal galleries of the underground mine, and NWPC began designing the underground mine site.

Acron Group opened an office at the mine, directed by Acron CEO Vladimir Kunitsky, to provide on-site coordination with the contracting organisations at the Oleniy Ruchey mine site. In October, the Murmansk region Coordination Council for Investments and Innovation granted the Oleniy Ruchey priority status, recognising its importance for the social and economic development of Murmansk region and all of North-western Russia.

2010

Full-scale construction of the mine was launched. Industrial and auxiliary facilities were built simultaneously: beneficiation plant, administrative building, gas station, assembly and storage platform, silo storehouse for apatite and nepheline concentrates, technological service and repair workshop. An open pit mine, road, bypass channel and tailing dump were also under construction. NWPC made its first purchase of Komatsu mining equipment because the Japanese firm’s technology has proven to be reliable in the severe conditions of the Far North.

A concrete mixer unit and a crushing and screening facility were commissioned, supplying the construction site with sand, rubble and concrete. On 29 April, the first cubic meter of concrete was manufactured on-site at the Oleniy Ruchey mine.

In December, adits for the underground mine were cut.

2009

Construction of the mine began. The administrative building was built on-site. A road was constructed to connect the site with the future open pit mine as part of the transport infrastructure project. Levelling work at the site was finished and preliminary work was carried out to lay the foundations for the main and auxiliary facilities. The construction site for the crushing and screening facility was prepared and the concrete mixer was delivered and installed.

NWPC obtained a license to extract sand-and-gravel mix from the South Kitcheyavr deposit. A bridge over the Vuonnemjok River was constructed to move heavy cargo. The Company began work to connect the mine to the power grid operated by local provider Interregional Distribution Grid Company of North-West, as well as to build power lines to supply the future mine with electricity.