Mechel Announces Progress in Constructing the Railway Spur Track to the Elga Coal Deposit
04 February 2009 - 1:27AM
PR Newswire (US)
NERYUNGRI, Russia, Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mechel OAO
(NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals
companies, announces that its Yakutugol HC OAO coal mining
subsidiary continues active operations in constructing the road to
the Elga coal deposit. The total length of the railroad will be
more than 315 kilometers. At present, traffic is possible from the
Ulak station towards the Elga deposit up to the 270th km. In
addition, 80 km of the access motor road have been repaired, 143 km
of motor roadbed have been constructed, and 37 km of pioneer road
have been constructed that now enable traffic. Repair of 59 km of
the railroad has been completed. To make this railroad section
completely ready, ballasting and surfacing of rails needs to be
completed. Due to severe climate conditions and low temperatures,
this procedure is expected to be completed in the spring. Active
construction of the bridgeworks and laying of water-drain pipe are
currently underway along the entire railroad track section. To
date, 24 railroad bridges have been erected with up to 99%
readiness, and more than 100 of water-drain pipes have been laid.
The bridge on the 61st kilometer is completely constructed, and its
commissioning enabled the builders to continue laying the track
superstructure. Total length of the rail and tie network laid in
January 2009 is 2 km. Motor traffic became possible across the
Yalta and Ugan rivers on the 79th km and 84th km, respectively. The
builders have to erect eight additional highway bridges across the
Undytkan, Undytyn, Tuksani, Algama, Chapa, Karaslak, and Taik
rivers. There are 122 mechanized complexes employed in constructing
the railway spur track; depending on the type of the work they
perform each is equipped with bulldozers, excavators, vibrorollers,
graders, and dump trucks. In total, over 1,000 units of
road-building machinery are being employed at the project this
moment. Specialists of approximately 40 contractors and
subcontractors from various parts of Russia are performing the
work, including the companies from Khabarovsk, Moscow,
Yekaterinburg, Tomsk, Saratov, Odintsovo, Chita, Aldan, and
Irkutsk. The general contractor for the project is Transstroy
Engineering Corporation ZAO. The works to construct the road are
being strictly controlled in terms of their quality and scope, with
specialists of Yakutugol HC OAO's Directorate for the Elga Deposit
Development carrying out regular on-site inspection of the
construction and installation works. Relocation of the construction
equipment to the Upper Ulak station is scheduled to start in
mid-February. Yakutugol HC OAO's own machinery will be allocated
for this project, as well as equipment from Mechel Mining OAO's
subsidiaries, Korshunov Mining Plant OAO and Southern Kuzbass OAO.
Approximately 30 machinery units will be allocated in the first
stage of this project. Mechel OAO Ilya Zhitomirsky Phone: + 7 495
221 88 88 Mechel is one of the leading Russian companies. Its
business includes four segments: mining, steel, ferroalloy and
power. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore concentrate,
steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, hardware, heat and electric
power. Mechel products are marketed domestically and
internationally. Some of the information in this press release may
contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding
future events or the future financial performance of Mechel, as
defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you
that these statements are only predictions and that actual events
or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these
statements. We refer you to the documents Mechel files from time to
time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including
our Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important
factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk
Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements"
in our Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ
materially from those contained in our projections or
forward-looking statements, including, among others, the
achievement of anticipated levels of profitability, growth, cost
and synergy of our recent acquisitions, the impact of competitive
pricing, the ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and
licenses, the impact of developments in the Russian economic,
political and legal environment, volatility in stock markets or in
the price of our shares or ADRs, financial risk management and the
impact of general business and global economic conditions.
DATASOURCE: Mechel OAO CONTACT: Ilya Zhitomirsky of Mechel OAO,
+7-495-221-88-88,
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