The Logistics deparment consists of two sub-departments:

Rail, and Port & Shiploading

Rail Department

Sydvaranger’s railway (SMT) consist of a single-track rail line between Bjørnevatn and Kirkenes, with stations at each end. SMT is subject to Norwegian rail regulations (Norwegian Railway Inspectorate).

The ore wagons are loaded at the loading facilities in Bjørnevatn, where a 320m long load-out tunnel can house 20 ore wagons at a time. The total length of the rail track is 8.6 km.

The set consists of 20 ore wagons, each holding 60t, equaling a total of 1200t/trip. 20 round trips are done per day, which equals a total of 24.000t/day. The ore is delivered to the plant in Kirkenes, where it undergoes additional crushing circuits prior to being transported to temporary silo storage.

The operation is based on a continuous 5- shift roster with 2 loco operators per shift. Prior to employment, all applicants must present a valid health certificate (paid for by the Company), as well as undergo special training schemes and pass a theorical and a practical aptitude test.

The training scheme (test) applies to anyone working on the rail line, the locomotive and/or ore wagons such as supervisors, maintenance team, rail- and loco operators etc.

The daily operation and maintenance of locomotive and ore wagons will take place at the Lokstallen workshop, located south of the processing plant in Kirkenes. Lokstallen also contains the rail department’s offices, locker rooms and lunchroom facilities.

Port & Shiploader Department

The company’s port- and ship loading facilities consists of 3 concentrate silos (each holding 27000m3), discharge belts, conveyor belts, an air bridge north of the unloading point in Kirkenes and a shiploader.

Crushed ore arrives by train from Bjørnevatn, where it undergoes additional crushing circuits prior to being transported to temporary silo storage. It is then fed from the silos onto conveyor belts and transported to the port and ship loading facilities where it is loaded onto vessels.

The shiploader was originally constructed in 1969 by PHB, Germany. It was in use until spring 1997 and completely renovated between October 2008 and June 2009. It is electrically operated and consists of a portal with a boom and shuttle wagon, a conveyor belt system, and is mounted onto a 195m long rail track which can run sideways at a maximum speed of 18m/min.

The maximum range for the loading boom conveyor is 24m from the wharfside. The shiploader can be operated either from the loader cabin, the transfer station control room or by remote control from the vessels.

The Kirkenes port facilities are capable of handling vessels up to 100,000 DWT. Loading capacity is 4,000t/h.

The ship-loading team consists of 5 loading operators on a continuous roster scheme. This includes a sampler.

Port and Shiploading facilities were in august 2016 ISO: 9001 certified via DNV-GL.