JSW Constructing Budryk & Ruch Knurów Underground Connection

Polish coal miner JSW announced that work is underway on a ventilation connection between the Budryk mine and Ruch Knurów. The investment will bring both mines significant benefits in terms of improved safety, greater use of resources, optimized production processes and the mutual use of mine infrastructure. The underground connection was included as a key investment in the "JSW Strategy until 2030".Underground connections between two mines at Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa are standard. The movements of Borynia, Zofiówka and Jastrzębie-Bzie as well as the Movement of Knurów and Ruch Szczygłowice are connected with each other. Now is the time to merge KWK Budryk with Ruch Knurów.The combination of the two mines is an alternative to the construction of a new exhaust shaft in the western part of the mining area of KWK Budryk. Shaft IV was planned at the stage of designing the construction of the Budryk mine, but was not completed for economic reasons.However, the development of the mine and the descent with exploitation below the level of 1050 m to the west forced the search for alternatives to shaft IV in KWK Budryk. The possibility of using ventilation shafts of the neighboring mines: Knurów-Szczygłowice and Sośnica was analyzed. The best solution turned out to be the idea of a ventilation connection of KWK Budryk with a ventilation shaft of KWK Knurów-Szczygłowice called "Aniołki" located approximately 2 kilometers n a straight line from the border of the "Ornontowice I" mining area of KWK Budryk.Already in 2013, analyzes of the levels of natural hazards of KWK Knurów-Szczygłowice and KWK Budryk were prepared, as well as the impact of the ventilation connection of these mines on their limitation. At that time, the initial costs of excavation work and modernization of the "Aniołki" shaft were drawn up, and even the method of project implementation was determined. Unfortunately, due to the difficult situation in the mining sector in 2015, work on the project was suspended.In February 2021, the idea of ventilation connection of KWK Budryk and Ruch Knurów was reactivated. The JSW Management Board appointed a team whose purpose was to analyze the possibilities of improving the efficiency of the resource base use, improving the management of the ventilation network, improving the economic efficiency of coal extraction and optimizing production processes as a result of the ventilation connection. The results of the team's work clearly showed that the ventilation connection of both plants is a much cheaper solution than the construction of a new ventilation shaft on the premises of KWK Budryk. Moreover, as a result of increasing the amount of air flowing through, the level of methane hazard will decrease.

JSW Constructing Budryk & Ruch Knurów Underground Connection

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