Coal mining in the Pechora coal basin was started in 1934, and today it is the basis for the development of the coke-chemical and fuel industries and energy. The coal quality of the Pechora coal basin is estimated by experts as high. It has a low ash content, high calorie content and low sulfur content.
Location
The named coal deposits lie in the territories of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic, which are part of the Northern Economic Region. However, most of them are located beyond the Arctic Circle.
According to balance estimates, the coal reserves of the Pechora coal basin are 344 billion tons. These include the Vorkutinsky, Intinsky, Usinsky, Yunyaginsky and Vargashorskoye deposits. The pool has an area of 90 thousand square meters. km
The main characteristics of coal
Northern black fuel has always been in high demand due to the quality of coal from the Pechora coal basin. First of all, this is high thermal conductivity, which is 4-7.8 thousand kcal, which allows the fuel to burn almost completely. And his ash content, as we have already said, is low, it amounts to 4-6%.
The development of coal seams at most deposits is carried out by the mine method, but the depth here is low 470 m. The thickness of the seam is up to one meter. Another important point is a significant amount of coal from the Pechora coal basin, or rather its main part, is coked.
Relatively low humidity is up to 10%, a small phosphorus content is up to 0.2%. The heat released during the combustion of a combustible mass is up to 8600 kcal / kg. The coal produced is of humic origin, and can be either shiny or dull.
Anthracites and semi-anthracites, lean and brown coals are developed here. All the data presented confirm the quality of the coal of the Pechora coal basin.
Mining methods
As mentioned above, the development of coal seams is carried out at a depth of 470 meters, in other words, underground. A small percentage is mined in quarries at the Yunyaginsky field. A large mass of all coals lies in four deposits. At the same time, coking plants are mined at Vargashorskoye, Yunyaginskoye and partly at the Vorkuta deposit.
Steam coal is being raised at the Inta and Vorkuta deposits. Despite the excellent quality of coal in the Pechora coal basin, they are processed at enrichment enterprises (factories and plants).
Sales markets
Mining here is carried out mainly for the northern regions of European Russia. Consumers of coal from the Pechora coal basin (coking) are Severstal JSC (a metallurgical plant in the city of Cherepovets), the industrial hub of the Leningrad Region, as well as the economic regions: Central, Ural and Central Black Earth.
The main consumers of thermal coal are the Northern Economic Region, northwestern Russia, areas: Central and Volgo-Vyatka, the city of Kaliningrad. All power plants of the Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions, Komi enterprises also operate on coal from the Pechora basin. And its largest consumer is the Pechora State District Power Plant.
Consumption reduction
Despite the quality of coal in the Pechora coal basin, its consumption is declining. The main factor in this process is the increase in cost. This is due to a number of significant reasons:
- One of the main ones - there are no metallurgical enterprises on the territory of the Pechora Basin - the main consumers of coking coal. Therefore, it has to be delivered to other parts of the country. Transportation is carried out by the Northern Railway, providing transport links with other areas. And their tariffs have increased significantly.
- Another reason is the geographical location of the area. As we said above, most of it is located in the Arctic. This fact causes the following undesirable consequences - permafrost, increased wetting of coal seams. All this together leads to a significant rise in price of coal.
The rise in price of coal mined in the Pechora coal basin leads to the fact that coal of the same quality mined in Kuzbass is much cheaper, and it is more profitable for enterprises to buy it. The reserves of the coal basin can increase production by several times, but instead it has to be reduced.