Specialists at Metinvest Northern Iron Ore organised and carried out a three-day shutdown to repair components and assemblies that cannot be serviced during regular scheduled maintenance.

Special attention during the shutdown was given to ore beneficiation plants No. 1 and No. 2, the industrial water supply and slurry facilities shop, pelletising shop No. 2, three crushing plants, and the networks and substations shop. Open-pit mines and ore transportation shops continued working during the downtime.

All processing facilities of Northern Iron Ore were also stopped during the three-day shutdown. A large amount of repair work was done at OBP-1. The team replaced DN 1200 main valves in switching chambers No. 5 and No. 6; replaced DN 800 gates in sections 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 26 and 27; replaced DN 500 valves for slurry pumps; and replaced DN 300 valves in the vacuum pumping station. 

At OBP-2, the filtration unit valves were replaced; maintenance was carried out on the six-jet slurry separator; a D 219 industrial water pipeline was replaced; DN 200 valves for hydraulic sealing were replaced. In addition, specialists replaced a collector and connected it to the utility system.

In the industrial water supply and slurry facilities shop, industrial water pipeline No. was repaired, and bottom valves of dredgers Nos. 7, 10, and 11 at SPS-1 were replaced. Specialists also serviced the 6kV Schneider frequency converter. 

"The scope of work this year was larger than usual, so the shutdown lasted three days instead of the typical one," explained Dmytro HORILSKYI, Acting Engineering Director at Metinvest Iron Ore Plants. "During the stoppage, we managed to upgrade key equipment that can only be repaired once a year during a scheduled shutdown. These measures will ensure reliable and safe operation of equipment, trouble-free functioning of the water slurry circuit, and stable production. Moreover, the measures carried out will contribute to smooth equipment operation when power supply becomes unpredictable due to shelling, which is crucial during wartime."