The region around the cities of Soligorsk and Lyuban, located around 180 km south of Minsk, has a long tradition of mining. The potash mine planned in 2017 is located on the Nezhinsky section of the Starobinskoye potash salt deposit in this region. Several mines have been active in this deposit since 1949, producing potash and fertilizer products. The Starobinskoye deposit is one of the largest potash salt deposits in the world, alongside the Perm region in Russia and Sasketchewan in Canada.
For the potash mine south of Minsk in Belarus, two freeze shafts with a sinking of approx. 750 m each were sunk. Shaft boring machines (SBR) were used for both shafts.
The project was a greenfield project: prior to the start of construction, only a cleared construction site area was available. The two shafts were scheduled to take three and a half years to complete.
Due to the limited construction time, the two shafts were sunk simultaneously using two SBR (Shaft Boring Roadheaders). The lead time for the production and acceptance of the machines was around twelve months after the order was placed. Four months were scheduled for transportation to Belarus and installation of the SBRs on the construction site. Commissioning of the second machine was delayed by one month.
In order to be operational on site, a local production facility was established and the necessary licenses acquired. All the necessary machine technology and auxiliary structures were planned, procured and provided with the relevant certificates for import to Belarus within a year. The required workforce up to the start of tunnelling amounted to approx. 300 employees.
As the two shafts to be sunk were freeze shafts, the following work had to be carried out before the machines arrived on site:
The project is characterized by an innovative sinking method in which shaft drilling machines with pneumatic conveyance were used. This method enables particularly efficient and safe shaft construction and significantly shortens the construction time.
REDPATH DEILMANN achieves sinking speeds of over 7 m per day and monthly outputs of more than 140 m on this project.
