The horrific accident at the Mir mine in Siberia earlier this month will not affect Alrosa’s diamond production plans for the remainder of the year.
According to Igor Sobolev, the company’s first deputy chief executive quoted in IDEX Online, Alrosa “will make up for the fall in output by using production from other mines”. It is still undecided when Mir, which accounts for roughly 9% of the miner’s production, will resume operations.
Yesterday (August 14), it was reported that rescue teams are working in round-the-clock shifts to clear rubble in the mine, where eight miners went missing after an underground pit flooded. Special pumps installed at the site are evacuating 1,250 cubic meters of water per hour, in order to ensure safe rescue operations. Water continues to flood the mine at a rate of over 1,000 cubic meters per hour, but according to the report, there is no water in the quarry above the compromised mine, nor is there gas concentration exceeding the permissible limit.
Alrosa plans to produce 39 million carats of rough diamonds this year.
