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DRILLING On the Move: Two Russian Producers Turn to Diesel Rigs Electric rotary drills were the workhorses of the fleet at these vastly different surface mines for years, but diesel rotary and DTH rigs now offer the mobility and performance needed for future mine development By Russell A. Carter, Managing Editor Three Atlas Copco DML HP rigs at work in the Zhelezny pit of Kovdorskiy GOK, one of two major iron ore producers in Russia's northwestern corner that have increasingly turned to diesel-powered drill rigs—instead of traditional electric rotary machines—when adding new units to their fleets. Two of the largest metal mines in far northwestern Russia are separated by hundreds of miles, yet have a number of things in common. They both extract iron ore as a principal product, support company towns that are highly dependent on them for employment and municipal upkeep, and share commercial histories that developed during the final decades of the Soviet system's centrally planned economy. Karelsky Okatysh (Karelian Pellet) JSC is a multi-pit surface mine and plant complex located near Kostomuksha in the 36 E&MJ; • NOVEMBER 2013 Republic of Karelia—a unit of the Russian Federation that runs parallel to Finland's eastern border and extends east/west from the Gulf of Finland to the White Sea. The mine is owned by Severstal Resources, one of three business groups within OAO Severstal, a vertically integrated Russian steel producer with resource assets in a half-dozen countries around the world. Just more than 200 miles (332 km) to the north lies the Zhelezny pit of Kovdorskiy GOK, owned by Russia's largest mineral fertilizer producer, EuroChem. It is the only employer of significance in the adjacent town of Kovdor, and like Karelsky Okatysh, survived the economic slump in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse to become an important asset in a distinctly capitalist corporate portfolio. Both produce significant tonnages of iron ore concentrate intended for pellet production, but that's where most of the similarities end: Karelsky extracts its ore from a series of pits that follow a broad, banded deposit that contains no other significant byproducts; while Kovdorskiy GOK mines a deep, unique deposit yielding magnetite-apatite ore—processed to provide iron and apatite concentrates—as well as baddeleyite, a rare source of zirconium. In fact, Kovdorsky is regarded as the only current source worldwide for baddeleyite (zirconium oxide) crystals. These are very large operations, each employing thousands of workers and operating extensive loading and haulage fleets that include equipment from Caterpillar, Komatsu and BelAZ, as well as Russianmade shovels and drills. Although their mining methods differ, the two operations also have one more trait in common: They're dependent on extensive drill fleets that traditionally included mostly electricpowered rotary units, but have, in recent years, increasingly turned to diesel-powered rotary and DTH rigs to ensure that the drill-and-blast segments of their production plans stay on track. The diesel rigs at both mines are all Atlas Copco machines, and at both locations, Atlas Copco has set up local support structures to help keep the rigs turning. Kovdor Goes Deep The progress of super-deep open-pit mining at Eurochem's Kovdorskiy GOK operation has been a topic of interest in E&MJ; (See "Russian Producer Prepares to Go Super-deep, p. 120, December 2011) and www.e-mj.com