Within the first quarter of 2006, the bauxite mines of Sevuralbauxitruda JSC (member of SUAL Group) increased their ore extraction output by over 1% against the same figures for 2005.

‘Within the first quarter of 2006, we have mined the scheduled volume of bauxite ore that exceeds the extraction volume for the first quarter of 2005 by over 1%. This was brought about by the increase in productivity of Novo-Kalyinskaya mine that was set into operation last year. At the same time, we have been gradually putting out of operation two of our older mines, where the bauxite ore is almost unstocked,’ said Viktor Radko, GD of Sevuralbauxitruda JSC.

In the nearest future, Sevuralbauxitruda is going to reconstruct 14-14bis mine and launch the second skip hoisting there. This is going to simplify the ore-handling scheme of the mine No. 14 and therefore to lower the mining cost.

‘The last mine that still stands in need of reconstruction is Cheremukhovskaya. To increase its productivity from 0.8 to 1.5 million tons, we would have to complete its construction works. The corresponding project has already been drawn up and is currently being considered by the company’s stockholders. The project cost is about $120 million,’ Mr Radko indicated.