Amaam North Project F coal mine
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Amaam North 'Project F' coal mine (месторождение Северный Амаам) is a surface mine near Alkatvaam, in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Far East, Russia.[1]
The project is also known as Fandyushkinskoye (месторождение Фандюшкинское поле).
Location
The map below shows the exact location of the mine.[2] The coal mine is located some 20km from the village of Alkatvaam, in Anadyrsky District, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia.
Background
Amaam North 'Project F' coal mine is owned and operated by Beringopromugol LLC, which in turn is owned by Tigers Realm Coal Limited (Australia). Tigers Realm owns 100% of the project having bought out its partner B.S. Chukchi Investments in 2017.[3]
Amaam North 'Project F' is part of the Tigers Realm Coal Amaam project, along with the proposed Amaam coal mine. The Amaam North and Amaam deposits are located within separate structural blocks of the Bering Coal Basin.[4]
Amaam North 'Project F' coal mine started commercial mining in 2017[5]. The mine produces both thermal and coking coal. It exports via Tigers Realm's Beringovsky coal terminal,[6] (located 37km away from the mine), to customers in Japan, Taiwan, China, Korea, Cambodia and Vietnam.[7] The port was acquired in 2020, improving its outlook of coal expansion in the region.[8]
Amaam North 'Project F' is comprised of a general exploration licence (Levoberezhny), the licence for Project F (permitted to mine until December 2034 and Zvonkoye (permitted to mine until 2038).[5]
Production in 2021 reached 1.127 million tonnes.[9] It is understood that the coal mine continues operations in 2022 as usual, although there are some disruptions to the supply of equipment by foreign partners. In its operational report for the 3nd quarter of 2022, Tigers Realm Coal reports that production has reached 1.13 million tonnes during 9m 2022, which is 57% higher than in the same period in 2021.[10]
Project Expansion Details
According to Russia's 'Programme for Coal Industry Development up to 2035' (published in June 2020), the target capacity of the coal mine is 2.5 million tonnes.[11] However the company's plans for expansion are slightly lower at 2 Mtpa of capacity.[12][13] In 2021 Beringopromugol also started the project of building a processing plant which should allow the company to sell a higher-value product.[12] The construction of the processing plant was completed in April 2022.[10]
In August 2021, Russian Federal Inspection Agency (Glavgosexpertiza) reviewed and approved the results of engineering surveys for the preparation of project documentation for the construction and operation of a quarry at the Zvonkoye coal deposit.[14] The target capacity is 650 thousand tonnes as early as in 2023.[14]
Environment
Indigenous Chukchi people live in the area of the Amaam coal project and have been in conflict over the area's natural resources with coal companies. In 2007 Northern Pacific Coal Mining (a subsidiary of Tigers Realm Coal) (translated from the Russian Severo-Tikhookeanskaya Ugolnaya Kompaniya / STUK) was granted a permit to develop the Beringovyi hard coal deposit. Initially, the permit was given under the condition that the company stay out of the territories of the indigenous obshchina (kinship-based community and cooperative), however the company chose to ignore this condition. Development and drilling by the company led to serious environmental damage including fuel spills and damage from moving heavy machinery in the summer period across the Amaam river. (In the summer months, the environment is particularly vulnerable due to the thawed ground).
In 2011, STUK hired the Chukotka Trading Company (ChTK) as a subcontractor, after which environmental violations continued and became more serious. In summer of 2011, right in the middle of the the salmon spawning season , ChTK hauled cargo from the Ushakov bay across the pristine tundra, the floodplains of the Amaam lagoon and the Amaam river all the way to the base using heavy transport equipment, inflicting irreparable damage to the river.
The indigenous people filed complaints and the coal company filed a countersuit and continued to operate. In February 2013 the arbitration court of Chukotka ruled in favour of the STUK and ordered that the obschchina had to pay the damages amounting to approximately 15,000 US Dollars. A few months later, in November 2013, the head of the Anadyr municipal district of Chukotka adopted a decree revoking the rights of the community to the given territory.
In 2015 the earlier ruling was overturned, meaning that the Chukchi did not have to pay the coal company but no compensation was offered to the Chukchi for damage to their land.[15]
Mine Details
- Operator: Beringpromugol LLC
- Owner: Tigers Realm Coal Limited
- Location: 20km south west of Alkatvaam, in Anadyrsky District, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia.
- GPS Coordinates: 62.966772, 178.766098 (exact)
- Status: Operating
- Production:
- Total Resource: 85.6 Mt[5]
- Mineable Reserves: 23.8 Mt (2020, Proved and Probable)[5]
- Coal type: Bituminous (Thermal and Met)
- Mine Type: Surface
- Start Year: 2017[14]
- Source of Financing: Sberbank[17]
Project Expansion Details
- Status: Proposed
- Capacity: Increase of capacity by 0.9Mtpa to reach 2Mtpa[12][13]
- Start Year: 2023[14]
- Source of Financing:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ "BERING COAL BASIN: AMAAM AND AMAAM NORTH, CHUKOTKA, FAR EAST RUSSIA". Tigers Realm Coal. Retrieved Mar 17, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Угольный карьер. Фандюшкинское поле или прождект F, Wikimapia, accessed Mar. 2021.
- ↑ Creamer Media Reporter, "Tigers Realm now owns 100% of Amaam project", Mining Weekly website, 17 April 2019.
- ↑ Tigers Realm Coal, "Bering Coal Basin: Amaam and Amaam North, Chukotka, Far East Russia" Tigers Realm website, accessed 30 August 2019. Bering Coal Basin: Amaam and Amaam North, Chukotka, Far East Russia"], Tigers Realm Coal website, 17 April 2019.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Tigers Realm Coal. "2020 Annual Report". Retrieved October 2022.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|access-date=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Tigers Realm Coal, "2018 Annual Report", page 8, Tigers Realm Coal website, 17 April 2019.
- ↑ Tigers Realm Coal, "2018 Annual Report", page B and page 1, Tigers Realm Coal website, 17 April 2019.
- ↑ Tigers Realm Group Acquires Russian Port and Coal Terminal, Mining, May 17, 2020
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "«Берингпромуголь» нарастил извлечение угля на Чукотке до 1 млн тонн". Nedradv.ru. Jan 18, 2022. Retrieved Mar 17, 2022.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "September 2022 Quarter Operational Activity". tigersrealmcoal.com. October 24, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Программа Развития Угольной Промышленности до 2035 года". government.ru. June 13, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "«Берингпромуголь» в 2021 году приступит к строительству обогатительной фабрики". Nedradv.ru. Jan 22, 2021. Retrieved Mar 17, 2022.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Beringopromugol Presentation (Dec 2020)" (PDF). Retrieved October 2022.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|access-date=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Берингпромуголь начнет разработку нового угольного месторождения Звонкое на Чукотке". Neftegaz.ru. Aug 19, 2021. Retrieved Mar 17, 2022.
- ↑ International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, "Russia: Chukchi community defends territorial rights against coal mining company", IWGIA website, 12 June 2015.
- ↑ "Tigers Real Coal 'Production'". Retrieved October 2022.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|access-date=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Tigers Realm Coal, "2018 Annual Report", page 1, Tigers Realm Coal website, 17 April 2019.
