Rostekhnadzor, the supervisory body of the Government of Russia, temporarily suspended coal mining at Sibirskaya mine and at TalTEK open-pit mine in Kuzbass.
Production at Sibirskaya mine in the Kemerovo region has been suspended due to excess methane detected during the inspection.
The materials have been submitted for consideration to the court, which will determine the sanctions for the violations committed.
As a result of inspections carried out at the end of December 2021, operations at an open-pit mine owned by TalTEK LLC were also restricted for 90 days as per the court decision, due to safety and operational standards violations.
Both cases could lead to an accident and pose a threat to the life and health of people.
After the fatal explosion last year at Listvyazhnaya mine, owned by SDS, the Governor of Kuzbass Sergei Tsivilev ordered to additionally check all mines in the region for explosion safety. From November 26 to November 29, 31 mines were checked, 449 violations were discovered, 180 cases of administrative violations were opened, 19 orders to eliminate violations and 2 warnings were announced. Thus, newly revealed violations indicate that the fatal explosion at Listvyazhnaya mine and the subsequent incident at Rubana mine (SUEK) could affect other coal companies, which may reduce the availability of high-CV coal and boost up prices.
The design capacity of Sibirskaya mine (part of the Ugleprominvest group of companies) is 6 mio t per year, while TalTEK open-pit mine output amounts to 4 mio t per year. Thus, the imposed restrictions will result in significant reduction in coal extraction and supply.
Source: CAA
