Mineral and Chemical Company “EuroChem”, Moscow, Russia:

Chernykh V. A., Head of the Bureau of Mines, e-mail: Vasily.Chernykh@eurochem.ru

Kovdor Ore Dressing and Processing Enterprise, Kovdor, Russia:

Tarasov G. E., Chief Operating Officer; Technical Development Director of Kovdor Ore Dressing and Processing Enterprise in 2005–2012

Popovich V. F., Head of the Department of Technical Development

Skopylatov S. A., Deputy Chief Geologist

Chikota V. V., Head of the Geological Service of Mining Support

The complex and rational usage of mineral resources has always been, is, and always will be the strategy pivot of Kovdor Ore Dressing and Processing Enterprise. Various projects, including the ecological direction projects, are realized around this pivot.

The most large and significant realized activities for last 10–15 years are:

Geomechanical and experimental and industrial substantiation of the possibility and development projecting of main open pit to more than 800 m depth, based on the construction of more steep slopes of benches and edges in the final position, without increasing of the land allotment area of the surface;

Holding the detail geological survey of the deep reserves of deposit in 2004–2009, including all amount of nonstaining apatite ores into the content of these reserves. The standards are reconsidered to the decreasing of the cutoff and average grades of valuable components. It makes possible to increase the fullness of the extraction of mineral resources from the subsoils, and to decrease almost in half the average overburden ratio, and, accordingly, the storage amount of waste rocks into the dumps.

Creation and development of industrial technology of large-scale extraction and concentration of apatite and baddeleyte containing anthropogenic sands for the period since 1996 till 2012. This made it possible to utilize more than 60 mln. t of the ore concentration wastes of last periods and release the capacity of the first area of tailing dump for the secondary using. The area occupies near 200 ha.

Lengthening of the toll circuit of conveyors of the cyclic and continuous technology complex of rock overburden on 700 m to form a new stage with 100 m height on the surface of the dump No. 3. Due to this, it could be no increasing of land allotment area, almost on the whole operation period of the deep open pit.

1. Melik-Gaykazov I. V., Vinogradov A. I. et al. Gornyi Zhurnal — Mining Journal, 2009, No. 11, pp. 64–69.