In coming years, Petrikov will become the second mining city in Belarus after Soligorsk, notes the Director General of Belaruskali JSC, Valery Kirienko. Speaking to journalists at a ceremony to lay the first stone of the Petrikov ore-dressing complex, he explained that the region’s standing of living and infrastructure will never look back.
Preliminary works on construction site
Exploitation of the Petrikov potassium salt deposit is being funded by Belaruskali, with Petrikov set to become a major industrial centre, playing an important role in the development of the Gomel Region and the country as a whole. The Petrikov potassium salt deposit is the most significant raw-material base for Belaruskali JSC and Belarus, since other sites are gradually running dry. Extraction of potash fertilisers will move to the Gomel Region in future, emphasises Mr. Kirienko, with Belaruskali eventually planning to shift its base there.
The Petrikov site has eight potash deposits, comprising 2.2 billion tonnes, at a depth of up to 1.2km. Two shafts are planned, 8m in diameter, and a third shaft is possible if needed. The first stage will come into operation in December 2019, reaching capacity after two years, to produce at least 1.5 million tonnes of potassium chloride annually over its life span of about 90 years.
