«Uralasbest» PJSC (Asbest, Russia)

Punenkov S. E., Chief Technologist, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, ore-dressing@control.uralasbest.ru

Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Eltsin» (Ekaterinburg, Russia)
Kozlov Yu. S., Student

The chrysotile industry in the Russian Federation has managed to adapt to modern challenges, minimize its production risks, convert from single product manufacture to producing a diversified range of products, and successfully reorient its sales markets. This article discusses resource conservation and integrated development of natural mineral reserves using the example of gabbro-diabase rock processing. At the Bazhenov chrysotile deposit developed by Uralasbest PJSC, this approach led to a reduction in the environmental load and lower dumping and reclamation costs. Melting gabbro-diabase from the Bazhenov deposit enables the industry to manufacture a new product: mineral wool, an effective fireproof heat and sound insulating material for the construction industry. The proven technology for manufacturing mineral wool thermal insulation boards has been identified as the most cost-effective. The thermal insulation materials plant of Uralasbest PJSC uses mineral wool boards to produce unique hydroponic substrate, which is widely used in agriculture for growing vegetables, fruits, legumes, ornamental and flower crops. Its high water retention capacity is achieved by including a mixture of polyethylene glycol, a moisture-retaining component, into the composition of the mineral wool instead of a hydrophobic oil emulsion. An integrated approach to utilizing mineral resources has also been successfully implemented at another production facility of Uralasbest PJSC, for manufacturing fractionated crushed stone for road construction. The company’s many years of experience have demonstrated that increasingly integrated processing of natural mineral raw materials provides undeniable new opportunities for the enterprise to generate additional profit by introducing new types of products.

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