It’s not every day you visit an Asian country, let alone one so big that it’s the ninth largest place on the planet and covers more ground than the whole of Western Europe. Forgetting about the obvious links to Borat, Kazakhstan is famed for its vast natural resources. RED was there to visit two amazing mines: SSGPO and Shubarkol Komir (A life less ordinary).
Kachar open pit
SSGPO owns the Kachar open pit near Rudniy in the north of Kazakhstan. Here the group’s heat and energy plant supplies its mining operations with reliable, low-cost power. Around 3,000 of SSGPO’s employees are based at the site, which experiences an extreme variance in temperatures – typically from -46°C to +40°C!
Mining work for years to come!
The pit extends 3,200m from north to south and 2,800m from west to east. It has a current depth of 430m – a very big hole indeed! With 1.3 billion tonnes of reserves, there is enough mining work estimated for at least another 60 years.
A huge RED thank you to the Hitachi dealer Turkuaz Machinery’s Mining Machinery Aftersales Support Managing Director Vakhtang Tsekhadze and his team for all of their help, support, hospitality and logistics. It is a privilege to work with such dedicated and professional people. Or in Vakhtang’s words, “Working with professionals always brings great pleasure.”
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