OREANDA-NEWS. Mechel OAO (MICEX: MTLR, NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces launching a new long wall face at its Southern Kuzbass OAO coal mining subsidiary’s Olzherasskaya-Novaya Mine.

New long wall face No. 21-1-9 with coal reserves of 3.4 million tonnes has been launched at Olzherasskaya-Novaya Mine. The mine’s team is due to work on the face for two years.

Miners at the face use a special sub-level caving method, which enables thick seam mining in one coal layer of up to 10 meters, extracting maximum volumes of coal in one go while decreasing the risk of breeding fire.

“The launch of the new long wall face will significantly boost Olzherasskaya-Novaya Mine’s capacity and increase our coking coal output. In 2016 we expect the mine to produce approximately 2 million tonnes of raw coal,” Mechel Mining Management Company OOO’s Chief Executive Officer Pavel Shtark commented.

Mechel is an international mining and steel company which employs over 67,000 people. Its products are marketed in Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore concentrate, steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, heat and electric power. All of its enterprises work in a single production chain, from raw materials to high valueadded products.