Pokrovske Mine has installed a German gas trap at Unit 11

Pokrovske Mine Administration, a part of Metinvest Pokrovskvugillia, has installed and prepared for operation a modular rotary degassing station MDRS-250 at unit 11. This is stated in the company’s press release.

This is the second German-made unit that will protect miners while working on the air supply shaft No. 3. The unit is designed to capture and extract explosive methane from coal seams, rocks and workings and bring it to the surface.

The station is equipped with four vacuum pumps, one of which is a backup. They pump out up to 200 cubic meters of methane per minute. Both units at DPS-3 are controlled by a special program that regulates the operation of the pumps, and only one employee is needed to control the operation of the modular degassing unit itself.

“Thanks to these installations, we are confident that the new longwall faces, which will be commissioned at Metinvest Pokrovskvugillia in August, will be safe for our miners,” the statement said.

On February 21 this year, Metinvest Pokrovskvugillia commissioned the 11th longwall for coking coal production in the 10th block of Pokrovske Mine.

Despite the difficult mining and geological conditions, the 11th longwall, 242 meters long, is one of the most promising areas of work. Its reserves amount to 993 thousand tons of coal. The miners plan to produce up to 2.5 thousand tons of coal per day from this face. It is expected to take more than a year to develop the longwall reserves.

By the end of 2024, the group plans to mine 5.3 million tons of coal, produce 2.8 million tons of concentrate and commission two more longwalls. Since the beginning of the year, the company has already produced more than 1 million tons of coal and produced more than 500 thousand tons of concentrate.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Metinvest Pokrovskvugillia produced 3.1 million tons of coal concentrate in 2023 and sank 20 km of mine workings.