Technical Information

MMC Norilsk Nickel, the world‘s largest nickel producer, is operating various shaft-hoisting installations in northern Russia. In the Talnach area, near the city of Norilsk on the half-island Taimyr, there are five large nickel deposits, the world‘s largest at all. One of these is the shaft-hoisting installation Komsomolsky. In April 2004, in close cooperation with the sales partner MT SIM AG (Switzerland/Representative Office Moscow), MMC Norilsk Nickel placed an order with SIEMAG TECBERG and SIEMENS on the complete refurbishment and upgrade of the mechanical and electrical parts of this shaft-hoisting installation.
The shaft SS of the Komsomolsky mine consists of a hoisting tower which is equipped with two double-compartment skip hoisting installations. In the light of its long service time and the evident wear resulting thereof, the customer decided on a refurbishment and upgrade of these hoisting installations. Due to the fact that the operating conditions do not allow a full standstill for a longer period, the refurbishment is undertaken in two steps. At first, the southern hoisting installation is refurbished and only thereafter the refurbishment of the northern hoisting installation follows.

With the accomplished refurbishment of all electro-mechanical equipment and the automation of the hoisting installations, the following objectives are achieved:

• Increase the hoisting capacity to 5.5 mill. tonnes of ore per year
• Application of state-of-the-art technology
• Increase operating time and service life
• Minimization of maintenance

The refurbishment programme requires the following scope of supply:

• Winders with electrical motors
• Winders
• Head sheaves
• Skips
• Ore crushers at level -471 m
• Loading and discharging installations as well as  
• Belt conveyors at level -540 m and on surface from the unloading station to the transfer point onto the conveyors leading to the processing plant
• Including the entire automation technology with hardware and software, i.e. with all control systems, as well as the signalling and communication technology

General Description

The main duty of both hoisting installations, southern and northern, is ore hoisting  between the levels -540 m (loading station) and +15.6 m (unloading station). The following new components are attributed to each hoisting installation:

• One 4-rope Koepe winder
• One 4-rope deflection sheave
• Two unloading stations
• One vibro-feeder, located below the discharge bunker, to transfer the ore onto the conveyor
• Three belt conveyors for the southern hoisting installation
• Two belt conveyors for the northern hoisting installation
• One magnetic separator for the belt conveyors
• One tripping car to transfer the ore to an open storage space
• Two rope-guided skips running into fixed guide rails at both ends of the travel distance (loading and unloading stations)

• Two jaw-crushers
• Two vibro-feeders, located below the ore chutes of the corresponding jaw crusher
• One conveyor which is alternately fed by the vibro-feeders
• Two loading hoppers with an adjustable flap for the distribution of the hoisting material into the loading hopper
• Two tilting table gates with a lock, located under the loading hoppers, ensuring the ore transfer into the skips with nearly no spillage 
• One pneumatic installation for the control and operation of the adjustable flap, the tilting table gate and its locking
• Both hoisting installations are designed for automatic and manual operation

The following plant components were designed,
delivered and erected for the ore transport:

1. One crusher each, equipped with a screening channel,  for the southern and northern hoisting installations.
2. Two vibro-feeders each for the southern and northern hoisting installations, located under the ore chutes provided by the Client. These vibro-feeders  transmit the ore onto the conveyors; the continuous ore flow is adjustable.
3. One belt conveyor each for the southern and northern hoisting installations, together with an integrated conveyor balance to transfer the ore into the loading hoppers, with a scraper conveyor added to collect the spillage material in the belt tripper area.
4. Two loading hoppers each for the southern and northern hoisting installations with pneumatically operated flaps to divert the ore flow into the loading hopper for skip n° 1 or skip n° 2. For the loading operation of the skips, pneumatically operated tilting table gates are arranged below the loading hoppers. The design of the tilting table gates makes sure that nearly no spillage occurs.
5. Two skips each for the southern and northern hoisting installations. These skips are designed for a max. payload of 30 tonnes or for a volume of 13.6 m³, respectively, for ore hoisting from level -540 m to the surface.
6. Two unloading installations (swivelling) each to open the skip’s shutter gate and to transfer the ore into the discharge bunker provided by the Client.
7. One vibro-feeder each for the southern and northern hoisting installations, located under the discharge bunker for the transfer of the ore onto the belt conveyors.
8. One transverse conveyor for the southern hoisting installation to transfer the ore from the vibro-feeder to another conveyor.
9. One conveyor each for the southern and northern hoisting installation for the ore transport from the hoisting tower to the first transfer station.
10. Each conveyor is equipped with a balance and a scraper conveyor to collect the spillage material in the belt tripper area.
11. One conveyor each for the southern and northern hoisting installations to transport the ore from the first transfer station onto the conveyor leading to the Talnach processing plant located in the first transfer station, or by means of a tripping car to discard the ore in the open storage space of the second transfer station.

Ore-Transport Operation

Underground Loading

The ore is transported to the selected bunker by means of two rotary tippers. A screening channel installed under the bunker serves to convey the ore either directly
(grain size <150 mm) or through the crusher
(grain size >150 mm) into the existing ore chutes.

Vibro-feeders are arranged below the ore chutes; they pass the ore onto the conveyor at a dose rate. Each vibro-feeder has a capacity of min. 850 t/h. As the conveyor is designed for the same capacity, only one vibro-feeder is active during the hoisting operation.

Now the ore is transported to the loading hoppers by means of the conveyor. The maximum payload of 30 t per hoisting cycle is recorded by the balance integrated into the conveyor. Once the weight limit is reached, the flap above the loading hoppers is readjusted to direct the ore into the second loading hopper. A microwave installed at the loading hoppers prevents overloading (volume >13.6 m³).

The ore filled into the loading hoppers is then transmitted into the positioned skip – nearly without any spillage – by means of the pneumatically operated, swivelling tilting table gate.

On-Surface Unloading

The ore-loaded skip travels into the unloading station at low speed. The pneumatically operated slewing beam allows the payload container to swivel out of the shaft area to such a degree that the skip lock is opened automatically and the ore is delivered into the discharge bunker, nearly without spillage.

A vibro-feeder is arranged under the discharge bunker to transfer the ore at a dosed rate onto a belt conveyor, either first by means of a horizontal transverse belt or directly onto the belt conveyor. The ascending belt conveyors transport the ore from the cellar of the hoisting tower to the first transfer station. A balance and a magnetic separator are arranged in the respective area of each of the two belt conveyors. The balance detects the mass of the ore hoisted. The magnetic separators, transversely installed in relation to the belt axis, serve to eliminate possibly hoisted magnetic foreign matter from the ore flow for disposal next to the belt conveyor by means of chutes.

The weight tensioning station of two belt conveyors is also located in the area of the first transfer station. Within the first transfer station, the ore is passed onto two feeder conveyors, located before the belt conveyors, by means of transfer chutes. Those, in turn, transport the ore by means of one tripping car each to the second transfer station, where the ore is transmitted by means of existing chutes onto the belt conveyor to the Talnach processing plant.

One tripping car each is arranged in both belt conveyors. These tripping cars are equipped with an electrical drive and a chute which may be adjusted by means of an electric motor. As required, the tripping cars allow to transport the ore either to the open storage space through a flap to be opened manually or to the second transfer station by means of the belt conveyor. The weight tensioning stations of the two respective belts are also arranged within the area of the second transfer station. 

All systems and components supplied by SIEMAG TECBERG and the electrics supplier SIEMENS are designed in accordance with the German mining regulations; in addition, they were certified by the Russian body GOSSTANDART.

Commissioning of the southern hoisting installation was successfully accomplished in December 2007 and subsequently the northern hoisting installation in March 2009, as well.

4-Rope Clamping and Lifting Device

The clamping and lifting device is installed in the hoisting tower at the platform level +40.8 m. It can be moved on the beam construction for the application on both hoisting installations for lifting and lowering of both compartments.