Our correspondent had a chance to meet and interview Gavriil Petukhov, who is representing a rare profession working as diamond grader with the Almazy Anabara Company in Russia:
How did it happened that you got a job with Almazy Anabara?
I am a jewelry production designer by my specialty, but starting from 2004 I have been working with both rough and polished diamonds. In 2006, when I was engaged at Choron Diamond as an appraiser of polished diamonds, I was offered a job with Almazy Anabra as a grader of rough diamonds, which I accepted since I wanted to get acquainted with diamond mining aspects personally. In 2007, just before the season we were given an additional training course at the training center of OAO Nizhne-Lenskoye.
How did you manage to get adapted to work on a rotational basis being a villager?
There were no problems with adaptation during the season – I only missed my relatives very much. The living conditions at the site are comfortable. We have a direct city telephone line there used by all the employees. The only problem is a long queue and may be because of the crisis the telephone was switched off several times for failure to pay.
What is the composition of workers engaged in the rotating scheme, are there more locals or those who come from outside Yakutia?
The composition of workers at Almazy Anabara was different, but mainly they were locals coming from various districts of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). There were just a few of Anabar area residents and all of them were engaged as auxiliary workers.
What kind of season was 2009?
The 2009 season for us, workers of Almazy Anabara, was very complicated since from 30% to 40% of our working personnel were cut due to the crisis, while the tasks, that is the volume of work and plan, remained at the same level as last year. This season may be described in only one way, as a “crisis season,” and everyone, starting from a minor manager, mentions the crisis. Thus, there was no supply at all, including food supply, so we worked using the old stocks. Despite the personnel cuts and higher production targets, the salary went down although it would be logic to suggest that it should have been raised. The psychological environment of the working team has a great significance under the rotating schedule when people lose their touch with the mainland.
Could you say a few words about the way you mine diamonds?
This summer the beneficiation season at Almazy Anabara in the Mayat Mine started on June 11, 2009. Beneficiation of sands was performed by two seasonal beneficiation factories, SOF-1 and SOF-2 “Olom”, while granular material was separated at four sorting facilities on the production areas belonging to the Olom, Kula and Priustje sites.
The company has installed a jigging plant to improve the efficiency of the seasonal beneficiation factories and reduce the amount of processing truck haulage.
SOF-1 is processing small size material using jigging plants, while mid- and large-size material is processed by X-ray luminescent separators. SOF-2 is employing an automated X-ray luminescent separator feeding its data to the operator’s computer which facilitates continuous monitoring of the process and prompt prevention of possible down-time periods.
The SOF-2 finishing workshop is using the X-ray luminescent separator operating in an integral-and-selective mode which results in greatly reduced output of concentrate delivered to the finishing workshop for final diamond sorting.
Rough&Polished from Anabar
