The inaugural ore was delivered to the Udachny No. 12 processing plant, which will be processing all transported ore. Once there, diamond content will be confirmed and a processing technology developed.

The Verkhne-Munskoe is the miner’s largest project; it has scheduled commercial operation of the deposit – containing 64.8Mt of ore, average grade 0.6ct/t for a total of 38.4Mct – in 2018.

Road train trips began test runs on October 2. Since October 4, the company said this week, four road trains began regular trips on the 5-6 hour one-way route, including one Scania and three Volvo each with a 95t capacity.

Crews are also conducting finishing and furnishing works for the processing division’s service lane from the deposit are under way, including the installation of temporary road signs and the filling of roadbed to form the upper structure of the road.

The deposit’s development period is expected to extend until 2041 assuming commissioning in 2018 is achieved and design capacity of 3Mt/y is reached the following year.