In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Norilsk Nickel's Talnakh processing plant has crossed a historical milestone – the second start-up complex has processed the 100 millionth ton of ore.
The company noted that TOF-2 is one of Nornickel’s largest investment projects. The total volume of investments exceeded 47 billion rubles. Processing capacity increased from 7.6 million to 11.2 million tons of ore per year, that is, by more than 30%. Today the factory successfully processes rich copper-nickel ores from the Oktyabrsky, Taimyrsky, Skalisty, Komsomolsky mines, as well as cuprous and disseminated ores.
Deputy Director of the Polar Branch of Norilsk Nickel – Operations Director Igor Dzansolov explained that this is not only about increasing volumes: “We have fundamentally changed the approach to production. Today the Pacific Fleet is a high-tech complex where we are actively introducing elements of digitalization and intelligent control systems for enrichment processes.”
New technologies help not only increase production volumes, but also make it more environmentally friendly. By reducing the amount of harmful impurities in concentrates sent to metallurgical plants, the company managed to achieve a reduction in harmful emissions into the atmosphere by approximately 15%. In addition, to minimize the environmental impact, a new tailings dump with all the necessary infrastructure was built in Talnakh.
The company has now begun construction of the third launch complex. It will increase the capacity of the Pacific Fleet to 18 million tons of ore per year. Thus, the Talnakh factory will process the entire volume of ore produced by local mines.
“The new complex, equipped with the latest technology, will ensure efficient extraction of non-ferrous and precious metals. It is designed almost identically to the existing second one – this ensures complete interchangeability of lines, guaranteeing uninterrupted operation of the factory,” notes Norilsk Nickel.
Now the main building of the factory is being built, which will house the grinding, flotation, thickening departments and a bunker bay. Additionally, a new weighing facility for 150 dump trucks per day will be built, including 100-ton tanks, a tailings storage facility, and the water circulation system with a storage pond will be reconstructed.
More than 240 people are involved in the construction, which is going on around the clock; at the peak, their number will increase to 850. 66 tons of metal structures and 126 tons of structures to strengthen columns have already been installed, part of the foundations for mill equipment and a new ramp have been built to ensure maintenance of the conveyor park.
“After strengthening the main building and preparing the foundations, installation of equipment will begin. In a workshop the size of three five-story buildings, three mills will be installed – one semi-autogenous grinding and two ball mills, a gravity complex of 16 Nelson units for more efficient extraction of fine metal particles, 106 flotation machines, two thickeners with a diameter of 50 m, about 100 pumping units for pumping enrichment products through technological operations, flotation air blowers and compressed air compressors to meet the technological needs of the factory in offline mode. The main suppliers of equipment will be three domestic engineering companies,” said Norilsk Nickel.
The company notes that the imported equipment included in the initial project was almost completely replaced with Russian equipment. The partners have already begun its production according to the agreed design documentation.
The implementation of the project for the reconstruction and technical re-equipment of the Talnakh enrichment plant will become a key driver for the growth of Norilsk Nickel's production capacity by 2030–2031.
