Polyus Gold, the main gold producer in Russia, recently awarded Wenco contracts to supply the automated mine management systems for two of the largest gold mines on Earth — Natalka and Verninskoye. These sales get two more Polyus sites running with Wenco, which has quickly become the standard system of the company.

Holding the third-largest gold reserves in the world, Natalka mine lies in the Magadan region of Eastern Russia. After development finishes, it will stand as the largest gold mine in the country. Although its deposit is enormous, its relatively low grade of ore requires careful mining to minimise dilution and loss as much as possible.

The mine is planning to use a wide range of Wenco technology to meets its goals. Wenco’s Drill Navigation system will ensure more precise drilling at the mine, while the BenchManager machine guidance systems will keep the site’s loaders digging to plan. Natalka will also rely on the Wencomine fleet management system’s dispatching software to coordinate equipment across its three separate mining zones and several stockpiles.

Meanwhile, Verninskoye sits in the historically gold-rich region of Bodaybo. With a different composition of ore, Verninskoye has different challenges and requirements than Natalka. Recently, it introduced a plan for ‘total production optimisation’ to improve equipment availability, hourly productivity, repair times, and extraction of gold. Yet, it can use the same Wenco systems as Natalka to do it. Verninskoye will run Wencomine FMS and add-ons such as BenchManager and Dynamic Dispatch to get its operation optimised, and then stay that way.

Both mines have also purchased more Wenco applications to help them stay on top of other mining challenges, such as tyres, fuel, tie-down time, maintenance, and safety. Wenco’s TireMax, Fuel Dispatch, Activity Dispatch, Maintenance Monitor, PitNav, and Fleet Awareness systems will work at both Natalka and Verninskoye to keep the operations running smoothly, without any fuss. Implementation at both sites is scheduled for later this year.

In addition, New Gold’s Rainy River gold mine in Ontario’s Richardson Township will also gain from its new suite of Wenco technology. This site anticipates processing 21,000t/d from its combination of open-pit and underground operations and its stockpiled ore. Keeping production costs low is a priority, so Rainy River will use a set of Wenco applications – including Dynamic Dispatch, Fuel Dispatch, and Maintenance Monitor – to keep things flowing easily and efficiently. The mine expects to have the core Wencomine system up and running by the end of March.

Glen Trainor, vice-president of sales and marketing at Wenco, said: “We’re so proud to strengthen our relationships with both of these high-level producers. These new sales really show that companies around the world are responding to the ease-of-use and the versatility of our systems. Any mine can just pick up and run with a Wenco system to get the exact performance gains they’re looking for.”