By 2016, a new horizon "minus" 500 was built at the Sherlovskaya-Oblique mine and mining operations began in the northeastern part of the mine field of the Obukhovskaya No. 1 mine.
In 2017, the mine produced 1 million tons of rock mass for the first time during a calendar year and mastered the design capacity.
In 2018, the technical re-equipment of the Reception and Screening Complex was completed with the commissioning of two enrichment plants with heavy-medium enrichment technology. This allowed the company to enter foreign sales markets and produce commercial products of export premium quality.
Since 2019, a phased commissioning and expansion of the production capacities of its own Engineering Department has been carried out, satisfying a significant part of the needs of the mine in mining equipment and materials. In 2020, the Engineering Department mastered the production of certified products for external customers.
With the increase in the volume of shipment of finished goods and the expansion of the geography of deliveries, it was necessary to modernize and increase the loading capacity of railway transport. In 2020, construction was completed and the second own loading platform for loading high-grade coals into railway wagons was put into operation.
The intensive development of mining operations, the expansion of the mining network and the increase in the depth of mining reserves required a deep modernization of the Sherlovskaya-Oblique mine. In the period from 2019 to 2021, a new inclined trunk with a length of 2.8 kilometers and a new AVR-22 main ventilation fan unit were built on their own. This made it possible to supply one and a half times more fresh air to the mine, reduce the temperature in the mine workings and switch to a more stable suction method of ventilation.
Since 2019, work on the deconservation and completion of the Obukhovskaya No. 1 mine, temporarily suspended due to the imposition of sanctions against our country and the deterioration of the economic situation, has intensified. Design and working documentation was developed for the deconservation of vertical shafts of the mine and their reinforcement. As a result of updating the feasibility studies of investments, the option of combining the mining operations of the Obukhovskaya No. 1 and Sherlovskaya-Oblique mines was approved, which will allow building an even more powerful combined mine with a design capacity of 4 - 4.5 million tons with optimal logistics, ventilation system, enrichment and shipment of finished goods. Work on the deconservation of the shafts of the Obukhovskaya No. 1 mine is scheduled to begin in 2022, and a powerful combined mine will be put into operation by 2026.
