Commissioning of New Drilling Units at Southern Urals Nickel Plant

Mechel announces it has commissioned new self-propelled drilling rigs at the open pit mines of its subsidiary, Southern Urals Nickel Plant. Commissioning of the new equipment will enable Mechel to increase nickel ore mining efficiency while reducing production costs.

The new Russian-made self-propelled drilling rig, UKB-5S, was commissioned at the Sakharinsk open pit mine at the Southern Urals Nickel Plant last month.

The cost of commissioning two UKB-5S drilling rigs was more than RUR12.0 million (approximately $480 thousand). The designed capacity of each unit is approximately 400 running meters per month.

The acquisition of the drilling rigs will allow the plant to carry out independent operational exploration while obtaining data for reliable planning and managing quality of mined silicate-nickel ore. The new equipment will help the miners define more precise boundaries of ore bodies, volumes and quality of mineral reserves.

The commissioning of the new self-propelled drilling rigs was implemented in line with Mechel’s mining subsidiaries technical re-equipment program. Mechel intends to invest approximately US$1.2 billion in its mining segment during 5 years.