Shchekino Boiler Auxiliary Equipment and Pipeline Plant KVOiT delivered the first batch of powered support to the Tikhova mine

Shchekino plant KVOiT (Sovetsk, Tula Region; a part of IMH) delivered the first in this year batch of powered support units to the Tikhova mine (Leninsk-Kuznetsk, Kemerovo region; a part of IMH).

Under the contract, the Tula enterprise manufactured and shipped to the mine two units. These units have already been accepted and will be lowered into longwall for installation soon. Until the end of the year, KVOiT will deliver another 11 powered support units to the Tikhova mine.

The powered support’s resistance in the working range is 550-780 kN/m². KVOiT’s support is designed to work on coal seams with mineable seam thickness of 1.2-2.2 m. These products have a certificate of compliance with the technical regulations of the Customs Union. That allows them to be supplied not only to Russia but also for export.

Project of production of the powered supports at KVOiT has been implemented since 2017. Last year, tests of powered supports in real production conditions were completed and this year the Tula enterprise started serial deliveries of products.

Andrey Shelyagovich, IMH Vice President for Production and Technical Development, noted: “In-house production of powered supports means strengthening of the vertical integration for IMH. At KVOiT, we master the production of complex products of a constant demand at the holding enterprises, as well as in the markets of Russia and the Customs Union. For Russia, this project is important primarily in terms of import substitution. Annually, the country imports around 400-500 support units. In coming years, we plan to increase the output of these products several times and partially replace the import”.