OREANDA-NEWS. November 16, 2007. According to the results of the first 9 months of 2007, Belon Group invested 4.7 billion rubles (net of VAT) in the development of coal mines and coal preparation plants of Kuzbass. This exceeds the respective index of the preceding year by a factor of 1. 7.

The main investment objects in the reporting period were the Listvyazhnaya coal preparation plant and the new production facilities (under construction)—the Kostromovskaya mine, the Novobachatsky open-pit mine and the Inya railway station. From January to September 2007, the investments in these facilities amounted to 3.6 billion rubles.

The largest amount of investments—2.06 billion rubles—was directed at the construction of the Listvyazhnaya coal preparation plant. The construction of this plant was completed in August 2007. The equipment installed at the plant was supplied by the leading Russian and foreign producers. In addition, a power substation was put into operation to supply electricity to all the facilities of the new coal preparation plant, and all the capital construction works were completed. Currently, the Company is performing comprehensive testing of the plant’s equipment in operating modes, with the pilot lots of cleaned steam coal being produced. The product samples produced are now undergoing a certification procedure.

The construction of the Kostromovskaya mine is underway. This facility will produce metallurgical coals of “Zh” grade, which are highly demanded in metallurgical industry. The mine is planned to be commissioned in the first half of 2008. According to the estimates, the mine will reach its full production capacity—2 million tons of coal per year—in 2009. The investments in the Kostromovskaya mine in the period from January to September 2007 totaled 852 million rubles. These funds were directed at capital construction, mining works and purchase of the equipment. In particular, this autumn a main slope conveyor with an incline, a mother belt, a pithead building, a tunnel and two adits was commissioned. Currently, a railway station is being built, as well as a connection to the Russian Railways network, with the underground mining works continued.

Belon Group also made considerable investments in the construction of the Novobachatsky open-pit mine. The mine received new machines for the open-pit mine development: Hitachi hydraulic excavators, BelAZ heavy haulers, CAT bulldozers, and a high-speed boring rig produced and supplied by Atlas-Copco to speed up the stripping works. The total amount of investments in the purchase of the machines, construction of the infrastructure facilities, and the mining and stripping works in the reporting period reached 502 million rubles.

Striving to upgrade the coal production and preparation plants, the Company is buying new equipment for the operating production facilities—the mines of Novaya-2, Listvyazhnaya, and Chertinskaya-Koksovaya, as well as the Belovskaya central coal preparation plant. To take an example, under the development program of the Novaya-2 mine, the facility received a set of face equipment including a mining plough produced by DBT, Germany, as well as Glinik jack sections, a face conveyor and a loader. The use of the mining plough will allow the mine to triple its coal production to 750,000 tons of coal already in 2008, and to increase the level of production safety by automation of the production and reduction of the unproductive labor-consuming operations.

In accordance with the results of the first 9 months of the year, the Group increased investments in the development of its service companies operating in the coal production and preparation sector. The total amount of 73 million rubles was invested in upgrading the truck fleet of Inskaya Truck Company, and 81 million rubles were invested in the development of Belovopogruztrans. This money was used to upgrade the Company’s railway facilities and to buy new machines.

 The major investment program of Belon Group is implemented in accordance with the Company’s corporate strategy, which implies considerable growth of coal production by 2012 to reach 13–14 million tons of coal.