Polyus invited senior high school students from Ust-Omchug to visit the Natalka Mine. They were shown how a gold mine is operated and experienced the lives of employees there.
On their arrival at a the shift camp, the students were taken to a canteen to try the on-site catering before the busy agenda kicked off. After breakfast they had an induction briefing, were taken through the safety rules, received their personal protection equipment (PPE) and were taken to visit a production site.
First they were taken to a viewing platform from where they could see the full extent of an open pit. Roman Makeev, a Mine Foreman who accompanied the students, explained the specific features of the deposit and mining fleet — there happen to be around 30 haul trucks operating per shift. They work together with loaders as well as Komatsu PC-4000 and TYHI WK-20 excavators which are unique for Kolyma.
The students were excited to see a large-scale electric WK-20 excavator being assembled.
Ivan Lis, a ninth-grade student, share his impressions:“I have never seen such a thing, it was so exciting! First we visited an open pit and I saw how big the scale of Polyus’ operations is. That’s when I realized how difficult and time-consuming it is to mine and produce gold.”
The students were also excited to see a process plant after a very interesting explanation of the process technologies given by the Senior Foreman, Sergey Borovkov.
At the ball mill circuit, the Foreman was literally surrounded by students full of questions about the mill and process plant. After lunch, the students came back to the Omchak camp, where one of the trainers, Vladimir Zhivotov, spoke to them about the sports facilities and Polyus’ volleyball, streetball and ping-pong competitions. Polina Shakhmatova, a Recruitment and Shifts Specialist, explained more about the corporate events. She answered questions relating to targeted recruitment, work experience internships and employee benefits, such as training programmes, fitness allowance etc. The high school students received Polyus souvenirs reminding on the site visit.
Arina Maslenko, a ninth-grade student, commented:“During our trip I was really impressed by what I saw. It was interesting to learn about primary professions in the mining industry. I realized that it is difficult to work in gold mining because it requires high-quality knowledge and skills. Many thanks to Managing Director Pavel Vorsin and Polyus employees Angela Sik and Kristina Kirichenko for such an amazing day!”
Sofia Demina, a ninth-grade student, said:“I will always remember my trip to the Natalka Mine. The excursion was truly educational and enlightening! It was carefully planned and ran like clockwork. Once one stage of the visit was over, we would get back to a crew bus, and then another specialist would meet us at another production circuit. The six hours passed very quickly. Thanks to everyone who helped arrange our trip. It was a wonderful and interesting excursion!”