OREANDA-NEWS. Total investment in innovation development and technological upgrade by ALROSA Group in 2015 exceeded RUB 2 billion.

They included research and development, design and experimental, and engineering and technical projects, staff training and target training for students, geologic exploration, and capital expenditure on construction, reconstruction, upgrade of facilities and technical re-equipment of enterprises.

In 2015, under the Program for Innovation Development, ALROSA Group implemented new technologies for prospecting and exploration of diamond deposits using airborne electromagnetic mapping to identify geophysical anomalies and diamond-bearing deposits.

In addition, new technologies aimed at diamond production and processing increase were implemented at operating facilities. In particular, chamber mining with drill and blast excavation technologies were mastered at Mir deposit, and new processing plants operating on a new principle using x-ray and laser radiation were implemented.

ALROSA Group took a giant leap in the automation of rough diamond sorting, automated systems for sorting by color, size, quality, and presence of internal defects, are installed and operating at the enterprises.

Rough diamond processing switched to a new level of quality with the introduction of the innovation laser system DCS-300, its powerful pulse laser and water jet of about 50 micrometer enable the system to process natural rough diamonds with pinpoint precision.

In 2015, the Company proceeded with the conversion of industrial machinery and motor transport to natural gas motor fuel and scaled down negative environmental impact.

Employees of ALROSA Group were active in the development of innovation technologies and implementation of innovative proposals. Thirty-six innovative projects participated in the Company’s open competition of innovative projects. In the scope of the Group’s Green Facets of a Diamond environmental project, twenty-seven projects were submitted to the judges and seven of them were implemented and rewarded. ALROSA’s competition of innovators and inventors brought 474 new solutions, where 398 proposals for technical improvement were introduced in production.

In a whole by ALROSA Group, investments in innovation development, implementation of technological upgrade and proposals for technical improvement allowed to increase diamond production, cut material costs and reduce environmental damage.