Qarmet to introduce a digital operations control system at all mines in 2024

ALMATY. April 1 (Interfax) - Qarmet, formerly ArcelorMittal Temirtau, has developed a program for large-scale digitalization of its coal department until the end of this year, the Kazakh steelmaker said in a Monday press release.

Qarmet will use a Digital Monitoring and Management System or DMMS platform for the digital transformation of operations control, which will monitor the movement of personnel and equipment in the mines, track the location and movement of miners in hazardous areas and include gas and seismic sensors. The operation of all mines will be controlled from a central control room, according to the press release.

Today, the positioning systems are only available in two of the eight mines in the coal department. In the future, the positioning systems will be installed in all the other mines and the control center of the coal department.

The digitalization program will be launched on April 15 to be completed this year.

DMMS is included in Kazakhstan's Industrial Safety Concept and was approved by the Kazakh Ministry of Emergency Situations.

In the early hours of October 28, 2023, a fire and subsequent explosion at the Kostenko mine operated by Arcelor Mittal Temirtau claimed the lives of 46 miners. A criminal case was opened into the death of the miners. Following the incident, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev demanded that investment cooperation with the previous shareholder ArcelorMittal Temirtau should be ended. In early December 2023, the government of Kazakhstan announced the completion of a deal to pass the Kazakhstan-based assets of ArcelorMittal - ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC and ArcelorMittal Tubular Products Aktau JSC - into public ownership.

In December 2023, Qazaqstan Investment Corporation JSC (QIC), the Kazakh state venture fund, acquired 100% of ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC, later rebranded as Qarmet, along with a pipe plant in Aktau for $286 million. The new investor in ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC is now the 44-year-old Andrei Lavrentyev, the head of the board of directors and shareholder of the automaker Allur. Besides the $286 million payment for both enterprises, the new investor committed to repaying loans totaling $700 million to ArcelorMittal and investing over $3 billion in the newly acquired company.