test Young and technologically advanced: 15 years of the Yerystivske Mining and Processing Plant

test Yerystivskyi Mining and Processing Plant (GZK) in Poltava Oblast – a fundamentally new enterprise built during the period of Ukraine's independence

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MPPs are an important part of the Ukrainian economy. Before the war their combined contribution to the country’s GDP amounted to 3.1%. Products of mining and beneficiation plants accounted for 6.1% of domestic exports as recently as five years ago, in 2018, and nearly 50,000 people were employed in the iron ore sector.

The youngest Ukrainian MPP is the Yeristivske Mining and Beneficiation Plant (YMBP) of the iron ore company Ferrexpo. On 14 July 2023 the enterprise celebrated its 15th anniversary. Since its founding the plant has stood out for applying the best mining practices and equipment. Despite the war it continues to operate and supply products to customers, and plans are being made here for the post‑war future.

Leading from the start

The Yeristivske MBP in Poltava Oblast was the first successful project of this kind implemented during independent Ukraine. In 2008 Ferrexpo’s management made the decision to create a fundamentally new enterprise. Its production and administrative‑welfare buildings were constructed taking new technologies into account. Industrial development of the deposit and iron ore extraction began just four years later, in 2012, following the best global trends.

One of the key factors relied on from the start was the engagement of modern mining machinery from leading global manufacturers. The first mining equipment, a CAT 16M wheel grader and two Caterpillar D10T crawler bulldozers, was delivered to the YMBP as early as October 2008. In December of the same year the plant began its first stripping operations using a walking excavator ESh-11/70.

As production volumes increased, the fleet of mining machinery was also expanded. In May 2011 the only Bucyrus RH-200 hydraulic excavator in Europe was commissioned, and a year later the company started another giant hydraulic excavator, the Bucyrus RH340, and a fleet of 220‑t Caterpillar quarry dump trucks.

The plant currently operates equipment from the brands Caterpillar, Komatsu and Hitachi. In particular, these include unique 34‑ and 29‑cubic‑metre excavators and 220‑tonne dump trucks, which are still rare even in Europe.

YMBP equipment

The YMBP has modern repair units – a workshop for mining equipment repairs and an in‑pit repair shop that service all of Ferrexpo’s industrial machinery. In 2021 the plant acquired equipment for repairing dump trucks (equipment for replacing rear axles) that is no longer available elsewhere in Ukraine. Whereas certain spare parts used to be replaced within a day, this can now be done in just a few hours.

Echoes of the war

Russia’s full‑scale invasion has had a significant impact on the operation of Ukraine’s mining and metallurgical complex (MMC), presenting the industry with difficult problems – disrupted logistics chains, staff shortages, interruptions in power supply, and so on.

In the first few months the enterprise managed to operate in its usual mode, later gradually reducing its mining and processing volumes.

In October 2022 Yeristovo Iron Ore Complex (YEDZK), like the rest of Ferrexpo’s operations, was temporarily idle due to damage to the region’s power infrastructure caused by large-scale Russian attacks. The enterprise reorganised activity so that at least one of the pits was operating at all times and, on average, a quarter of all available equipment was in use.

Taras Zinchenko

The war taught the company to be flexible and to rapidly reconfigure operations in line with existing production needs and the current situation.

“During 2023 we were able to gradually increase production volumes thanks to the launch of another technological line. This effectively doubled productivity,” Taras Zinchenko, acting CEO of the Yeristovo Iron Ore Complex.

At the same time, YEDZK is working to accelerate wagon turnover and, consequently, the delivery times of pellets to customers. Opening Ukrainian Black Sea ports would substantially help the plant, as it would allow increased production capacity and the ability to supply products to foreign partners at lower cost. In turn, this would bring more revenue to Ukraine and ensure increased investment in the near term.

The full-scale Russian invasion also created staffing challenges for the Ferrexpo group: some specialists left the country, and nearly 700 employees across three company sites, many of them YEDZK staff, joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These are largely workers in critical trades – maintenance fitters, electric-gas welders and drivers. The plant supports mobilised employees and remains in regular contact with them.

Smart solutions

Ukraine’s youngest iron ore plant is also the most technologically advanced enterprise in the sector – the ‘first unmanned’, as the press dubbed it. The smart solutions Ferrexpo implemented here are genuinely novel for the country; the goal was to compete on equal terms with large global companies.

In April 2019 YEDZK launched a project to retrofit and modernise PitViper 275 drilling rigs. The enterprise currently operates three rigs that are remotely controlled by drilling operators. In particular, the machines, without any human participation, can perform a range of functions and achieve maximum drilling accuracy, improving cost-effectiveness and the efficiency of drilling operations.

A year ago the enterprise opened a unified dispatch centre – “the plant’s brain centre” – which allows real-time monitoring of mining equipment in both quarries, rapid response to potential deviations in equipment operation, and better planning of stripping works and iron ore extraction.

Unified dispatch centre

In 2021, the first Private Networks e-LTE in Ukraine was built at the Yeristovo Mining and Processing Plant (YMP) at a cost of $1 million, this sum including the licence fee. According to the company, this technology in the plant’s quarry is very similar to that used by mobile-network operators. The main difference is that it is Ferrexpo’s own network and is administered by the company’s staff. It was constructed as the infrastructure for operating an unmanned fleet of mining equipment.

Last year the plant also modernised six CAT 793D haul trucks – they were fitted with an ASI automated remote-control system of American manufacture. However, because of the Russian invasion the project to use unmanned haul trucks in production was stopped. One reason is the inability to deliver necessary materials, spare parts and equipment on time. Nevertheless, some equipment is being stored, ready for the project’s restart.

Plan for victory

The Yeristovo Mining and Processing Plant continues to play a significant role for the communities where it operates, for the region and for the country as a whole. In many respects the enterprise is important for supporting the economy, and it also provides humanitarian support through more than 70 social projects and initiatives.

Last year Yeristovo Mining and Processing Plant produced over 9.131 million tonnes of iron ore, which meant Ferrexpo’s total annual production amounted to 6.1 million tonnes of iron-ore pellets. However, the greatest achievement under martial law is considered to be the preservation of the enterprise itself. The plant continues to operate while reducing production costs; deliveries to customers have been reduced, focusing on clients in Central and Eastern Europe, whereas before the war the company supplied customers worldwide in Asia, the Middle East and North America.

The plant’s quarry

The Russian invasion halted investment in a number of projects; some had to be postponed. In the long term, when business restores production, the enterprise will become an important player in Ukraine’s reconstruction.

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