Branches

TROYANOVO-1 MINE BRANCH

The first sod for the construction of the first mine was turned on 3^rd March 1952. According to the design, the field of Troyanovo-1 mine had 525,000,000 tonnes of coal reserves at an average stripping ratio of 2.44 m³ per tonne of coal.

The first 117,100 tonnes were mined in 1960. The mine was commissioned for regular operation in 1961. On 19^th June that same year the operation of the first electrified double railway from the overburden removal levels to the external dump (12 kilometers long) commenced, and that was the beginning of the transition from steam to electric traction.

Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD was granted licence No. 302/14.07.2016 which gives the Company the right to transport freight using the national railway infrastructure along the following sections:

Septemvri railway station – Simeonovgrad railway station;

Ruse Razpredelitelna railway station – Dimitrovgrad railway station;

Stara Zagora railway station – Nova Zagora railway station;

Ruse Razpredelitelna railway station – Obraztsov Chiflik railway station;

Simeonovgrad railway station – Nova Zagora railway station.

The licence was amended on 14^th May 2021 and is valid until 13^th May 2026 together with Appendix No. 1/25.05.2024 issued for financial cover for liability until 24 May 2025.

While during the first year of regular mine operation (1961) the amount of 1,404,000 tonnes of coal was mined, in 1965 the production increased to reach 6,059, 000 tonnes.

The record for coal production per annum was set in 2017 when 13,160,726 tonnes were mined.

The record for coal production per half a year (a period of six months) was set during the second half of 2021 when 7,618,794 tonnes were mined.

The record for coal production per three months was set in the fourth quarter of 2021 when 4,684,324 tonnes were mined.

The record for coal production per 24 hours was set on 16^th February, 2017 when 74, 381 tonnes of coal were mined.

The record for overburden removal per annum was set in 1988, when 30,760,400 m³ were removed.

The record for overburden removal per month was set in August 1988 when 3,907,400 m³ were removed.

In January 2022 Troyanovo-1 mine set a monthly record with 1,778,170 tonnes of coal produced. This record marks a peak in the seventy-year-long history of the mine. The previous time when the largest amount of coal was produced was in October 2021 when 1,622,566 tonnes of coal were mined.

TROYANOVO-NORTH MINE BRANCH

Troyanovo-North mine is located in the northern part of the Maritsa Iztok coalfield productive area. To the north is lies along the deposit boundary, and to the south it borders on Troyanovo-1 mine.

The construction preparation activities began in 1960 with the displacement of the Ovcharitsa river bed from the future mining area; temporary housing was built near the village of Kovachevo, and the construction of the connecting line to Troyanovo-1 mine commenced.

On 9^th August 1964 the first train was loaded with coal at Troyanovo-North mine.

Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD was granted licence No. 302/14.07.2016 which gives the Company the right to transport freight using the national railway infrastructure along the following sections:

Septemvri railway station – Simeonovgrad railway station;

Ruse Razpredelitelna railway station – Dimitrovgrad railway station;

Stara Zagora railway station – Nova Zagora railway station;

Ruse Razpredelitelna railway station – Obraztsov Chiflik railway station;

Simeonovgrad railway station – Nova Zagora railway station.

The licence was amended on 14^th May 2021 and is valid until 13^th May 2026 together with Appendix No. 1/25.05.2024 issued for financial cover for liability until 24 May 2025.

During the first year of operation 307, 000 tonnes of coal were produced at Troyanovo -North mine.

On 14^th November 2019 two new bucket-wheel excavators - KWK 2000 and KWK 400L - were transferred for operation to Troyanovo-North mine. The project value was EUR 25.8 million and it was financed by the Company own contribution of 50% and a grant of 50% received from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development under the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund.

On 18^th May 2020 a KWK 2000 bucket-wheel excavator was commissioned and it commenced operation at Overburden Removal, Transportation, and Spreading Facilities Unit (ORTSFU) No. 3.On that same date a KWK400L bucket-wheel excavator was commissioned and started operation at ORTSFU No. 5.

The simultaneous commissioning of two bucket-wheel excavators was done for the first time in the history of Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD.

TROYANOVO-3 MINE BRANCH

Troyanovo-3 mine is located in the southern part of the Maritsa Iztok coalfield. It has a rectangular shape and is oriented in the west-east direction. It is 12 kilometres long and 2.5 - 3 kilometres wide (north-south).

Its estimated industrial coal reserves amount to 336,230,000 tonnes.

The average depth of the earth mass above the coal face mining complex is 70-80 metres. Unlike the first two mines, Troyanovo-3 mine was designed by a team of Minproekt, the Bulgarian Design Institute, and it was planned that the mine would use only rubber belt conveyors instead of railway transportation.

The first sod for the construction of the mine was turned on 24^th March 1964.

The first overburden flow line was commissioned in 1967.

Coal mining started in 1969 when 1,357,552 tonnes of coal were produced.

In 2016 a reloading facility to transfer the coal flows from Troyanovo-3 mine to Troyanovo-1 mine 1 was built. Reliable and regular coal supplies to Maritsa East 2 TPP were provided.

In 2018 Troyanovo-3 mine obtained ten new bulldozers.

In 2019 a 100 KW mobile jaw crusher for breaking residual oversized rock pieces that has crushing capacity of 200t/h was supplied. In 2000 the mobile crusher produced some 32,000 tonnes of crushed rock material, and in 2021 – 38,405 tonnes.

In December 2020 a Komatsu PC 36OLC-11 single bucket excavator, equipped with a 2.2 m³ bucket and a hydraulic hammer, as well as a Komatsu WA 380-8 front-end loader, equipped with a 3.2 m³ bucket, were supplied so that they would operate in combination with the mobile crusher.

In 2020 a 3114 rubber-belt conveyor was commissioned on the first dump level.

In 2020 another bulldozer with capacity exceeding 320 hp was supplied to the mine.

At the end of 2021 the stripped coal reserves amounted to 32 million tonnes.