Coal news and updates

Russia opens its largest coal mine

Russia’s largest coal mine has officially opened in the Khakassia Republic in southern Siberia with the new Arshanovsky open cut operation expected to yield 10 million tonnes of coal a year once at full capacity.

The new mine, reports The Siberian Times, has an operational life of 167 years and it is expected to provide a welcome economic boost to the southern Siberia region.

“This is ambitious but it will have a direct impact on the opening of new industries, the creation of new jobs and increasing welfare,” Viktor Zimin, the head of Khakassia, was quoted as saying.

Razrez Arshanovsky, the company that owns the mine, has plans to build an industrial campus and a railway line as a loading station for the coal.

The opening comes as Russia also announces the construction of two new coal ports in Siberia, which gives the nation more access to Asian markets, particularly China, Japan, and Korea.

source: http://www.mining.com