New Chrome Ore Fields
Almost a million tons of chrome ore is estimated based on the results of exploration of the new Geologicheskoye I field. Three other fields are being prepared for development at Donskoy GOK, JSC “TNC “Kazchrome” Branch.
The development of small deposits is an important area of the company's activity. It will allow supporting the main production of chrome ore and providing a sustainable supply of raw materials to the Kazchrome Ferroalloys Plants.
Large-scale geological exploration in the Khromtau region has been conducted since 2016. Based on the exploration results, the State Committee approved the reserves of the Geologicheskoye I field, which is more than one million tons of rich chrome ore.
– The average chrome oxide content in the new field is up to 54.9%, it is a rich ore. A part of the reserves will be mined by the open-pit method - in an open pit, and a part by underground mining. It will be more convenient and economically efficient," said Nurlan Sarinzhipov, head of the Mining and Beneficiation Department. - To "get closer" to the ore, we need to do a lot of overburden - to remove the layer of barren rock overlaying the ore. The volume of overburden will be several million cubic meters, and the first ore production is planned for October.
Three more deposits at DGOK are being prepared for development. For example, at the Dubersay ore occurrence, production is expected to start this year and will be over 300 thousand tons of ore. Drilling of wells is going on there now to determine more accurate data for mining. Work has begun on opening the mining capitals of the Yuzhny quarry. Mining will start here in 2023. A similar process is going on in the Mirny open pit, where only 430 running meters separate the miners from their goal in a small section of the Northern Rim. According to the specialists, there are about 150 thousand tons of ore here.
Small deposits will be developed with the help of the so-called mobile machinery, i.e. loading-delivery trucks, dumper trucks, and mobile machines for blast-hole drilling. Donskoy GOK will use such equipment for the first time.
Currently, the Company continues exploration - approval of reserves and selection of the methods of development shall be conducted for "Geologicheskoye II" and "Geophysicheskoye VII" sections. Moreover, the Company starts operations on two more chrome ore areas - Daulsko-Kokpektinskaya area and Bilge ore occurrence. The phase by phase prospecting works are planned till 2025.
Generally, 225.3 million tons of chrome ore have been produced here within 83 years of the Donskoy Processing Plant operation.