Forty kilometres from the front line of the war in Ukraine, vertically integrated mining and metals company Metinvest has commissioned its eleventh longwall for coking coal in Block 10 of the Pokrovske Colliery, enabling the group of companies to produce almost one-million tonnes of coal.

Pokrovske Coal CEO Andriy Akulich says the timely preparation of the new longwall is a “positive result of the long, hard work of every employee of the business”.

“This is a significant event for the entire team and contributes to a stable, confident future for us. People will be provided with jobs and salaries, which is crucial for teams operating in frontline regions.”

In addition, he adds that progress at the coal mine is a significant contribution to maintaining Ukraine’s defence capability and replenishing budgets of the country at all levels.

The eleventh longwall is scheduled to be commissioned in 2025.

Despite challenging mining and geological conditions, Pokrovske Coal notes in a statement that longwall Number 11 is one of the most promising areas of Pokrovske Coal’s operations, with the 242-m-long face poss- essing reserves of 993 000 t of coal.

Metinvest plans to produce up to 2 500 t/d of coal from the new longwall, while its reserves are expected to last for more than a year.

Since the start of 2024, Metin-vest’s enterprises in Ukraine have mined about 698 000 t of coal, from which almost 373 000 t of concentrate have been produced.

By year-end, Metinvest plans to mine 5.3-million tonnes of coal, produce 2.8-million tonnes of concentrate and commission two more longwall faces.

Pokrovske Coal’s enterprises operating near the front line provide jobs for the Donetsk region’s residents and internally-displaced persons from different parts of Ukraine, as well as to develop local communities, pay taxes and support the country’s economy.

Pokrovske Coal, which manages Metinvest’s Ukrainian coal assets, is the largest coking coal producer in Ukraine. It comprises several enterprises, the main ones being Pokrovske Colliery and Sviato-Varvarynsk beneficiation factory, which are located on the border of the Dnipro and Donetsk regions, and which extract and enrich coking coal and sell coal concentrate.