Vorkutinskaya resumes production

This morning production restarted at the Vorkutinskaya mine, except for one affected area that will remain suspended for 90 days as dictated by the Russian Federal Service for Environmental, Technical and Nuclear Supervision.

Normal production has resumed across the rest of the mine. During the mine’s downtime, experts examined the mine tunnels to ensure that they are in full accordance with the highest standards of health and safety.

The 832−Yu mine face on the facility’s South Section has been suspended and the damaged tunnels sealed off. Operations have started in the Central Section that processes longwall face 1022 in the Fourth Seam. The mine tunnels are being fully ventilated and continuously monitoring by experts from Vorkutinskaya; the Russian Federal Service for Environmental, Technical and Nuclear Supervision; and a mine rescue team from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry.

The Government Commission is currently investigating the cause of the accident, with full assistance from experts from Vorkutaugol and the Vorkutinskaya mine. Furthermore, a group of Government officials are investigating the criminal case opened on the occasion.

Sergei Efanov, CEO of Vorkutaugol, commented: “First and foremost, our priority is to understand causes of Monday’s tragic accident. Our efforts, along with experts from the Russian Federal Service for Environmental, Technical and Nuclear Supervision, and from Russia's leading scientific research institutes are focused on investigating the circumstances surrounding the accident. The health and safety of our employees is our top priority, and we are working tirelessly to understand what happened on Monday and to ensure that nothing similar happens again in the future.”