Mr. Pěgřímek, President of the Czech Mining Office, interested in safety at Darkov

DARKOV – A rare visitor arrived in the Darkov Mine on October 12. Ivo Pěgřímek, President of the Czech Mining Office visited the stope No. 40 204, accompanied by the Klaus-Dieter Beck, the OKD CEO, and other managers of our mining company. In particular, Mr. Pěgřímek was interested in safety.

The visited stope is equipped with the POP 2010 technology, i.e. with Bucyrus 2,6/5,5 sections, a SL500 shearer loader and a PF 6/1042 bench conveyor. The visitors were also joined by Libor Hroch, President of the Ostrava District Mining Office, and Martin Štemberka and, on behalf of OKD, by Ján Fabián, Chief Development and Strategy Officer, Leo Bayer, Chief Operating Officer and Boleslav Kowalczyk, Director of the Darkov Mine.

Bounce prevention measures

The visit to the mine namely focussed on the inspection of the bounce prevention measures. The President of the Czech Mining Office was interested in the new POP 2010 technology but, in particular, in the issue of safety. He stated that the introduction of new sets of equipment along with an increase of the mine entry profiles and of the weight class of the mine entry supports is a step in the right direction as regards the provision of miners´safety. Nevertheless, he also pointed out at the necessity to provide a different solution to the design of the longwall-gateroad intersection than previously applied at OKD, in particular to cover the increasing cross section space that needs to be secured.

The OKD CEO replied that it was one of the main tasks of the mining company that was based on the strategy of increasing the safety and productivity of the stope. After Klaus-Dieter Beck and Ivo Pěgřímek left the pit, they discussed in particular the issues of safety, mining and other investments into the sphere of safety and new technologies.

Forthcoming: Visit to the face

In conclusion, the President of the Czech Mining Office and the OKD CEO agreed on the next inspection visit. Next time, they will focus on the field of preparation and they will visit the heading with the latest tunnelling equipment, i.e. the MR 340 shearer loader with a roof bolting device.

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