What does a student expect from industrial training? Experience, the opportunity to become acquainted with real production conditions, and new, unforgettable impressions that will remain with them for a lifetime. When it comes to the most challenging climatic conditions of the Far North and a company of global renown, such expectations are justified one hundred percent.
Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University is implementing a pilot project that envisions the transition to a six-year program of study, including a significant increase in the duration of industrial training. Within the framework of an academic partnership program with the country’s largest companies, the university sends future engineers to various regions across Russia. Fifth-year student of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, specializing in “Mine Surveying,” Irina Garifullina, went to Krasnoyarsk Krai, where the mining and metallurgical company “Norilsk Nickel” operates.
She received an invitation to undertake her internship at a subsidiary of “Norilsk Nickel” — Zapolyarnaya Construction Company LLC, in the Department of the Chief Mine Surveyor of Shaft Sinking Administration No. 1. The enterprise has 60 years of experience in construction beyond the Arctic Circle.
«The company covers the flight from Saint Petersburg as well as transfer from and to the airport. Dormitories are located in Talnakh and Norilsk, and the living conditions are very good. One can reach the workplace by public transport or by charter buses provided by the enterprise. Workplaces are equipped with everything necessary: a computer with the required software is provided, as well as personal protective equipment. Each student is assigned a mentor with no less than three years of professional experience. Under their supervision, the intern independently carries out instrument checks, direction setting, surveying, and also completes the required work documentation», - Irina explains.
Admission to production is granted only after the mandatory completion of a series of training sessions and safety briefings, familiarization with the job description of a mine surveyor in underground operations and the relevant regulatory and technical documentation, obtaining a work permit from the section supervisor, and exclusively under the supervision of a mentor. Permission to carry out work at a specific site is granted by the mining foreman.
This was already the second time the student came to Norilsk. She first arrived there last year, when after her fourth year of study she completed an internship at “Norilsk Nickel” as a mining worker engaged in mine surveying operations. This year, she received a promotion — for two months, Irina was mastering the profession of a mine surveyor in underground operations.
«This entails a different level of responsibility, remuneration, and tasks, among which was the management of mining workers. The promotion was the result of the company’s high assessment of the quality of training of Mining University students, my professional experience from the previous year, as well as my active participation in the corporate youth program ‘Professional Start.’ This program involves students from engineering universities who undertake internships at Norilsk Nickel. As part of the program, a team of managers is formed from among the company’s employees to provide support throughout the internship in various matters. For effective adaptation, participants are offered tours of production facilities, various quests, exhibitions, master classes, meetings, an annual tourist rally, a race, and volleyball competitions. For example, this year I had the opportunity to participate in creating the company’s logo from the largest number of people. It set a record in Russia», - Irina shares her impressions.
The world’s northernmost city, Norilsk, has its own obvious particularities. According to the student, when she arrived in June there was still snow on the ground, and people were wearing jackets and hats. Only by July did the weather become noticeably warmer, although it was still far from resembling a typical summer in central Russia.
«I was to undergo training in an organization engaged in the capital construction of shaft yard workings, namely: aspiration chambers, chambers of the underground crushing complex, pump chambers, and water collectors. Geographically, I worked at the Oktyabrsky Mine, where sulfide copper-nickel ores are extracted from the western flank of the Oktyabrsky deposit. Each year, 4.8 million tons of ore are mined here, from which copper, nickel, palladium, and platinum are obtained. The main mining operations are conducted at depths ranging from -400 to -930 meters. I was assigned to a section working at the horizons of -650, -700, and -850 meters. When descending in the cage, one’s ears pop several times, but the body quickly adapts. If there are no medical restrictions, working at such depths is quite comfortable», - notes the future mine surveyor.
She explains that, contrary to expectations, the workings are not cold at all, even though they are located in the Far North. Moreover, the deeper one goes, the warmer it becomes. In the concreted chambers, the temperature can reach up to +30 degrees Celsius. If loading, drilling, or other machinery is operating nearby, it becomes even hotter.
«It was fascinating for me to independently set the direction of mine workings, to conduct surveys of chambers 12 meters high, and to construct rings and frameworks for them using Micromine software. Of course, when I entered such a large underground chamber for the first time, it was frightening, but the company takes employee safety very seriously, and all chambers are properly reinforced. Equally important was participating in the control surveying, which is carried out three times a month. Undoubtedly, industrial training provides a unique opportunity to work on the front line and allows one to fully immerse themselves in all the professional processes of the enterprise», - believes Irina Garifullina.
Looking ahead, she plans to begin her professional career at this enterprise. Thanks to her participation in the “Professional Start” program, she signed an agreement for targeted training, completed distance learning through the company’s programs, and was included in the talent pool, which increases her chances of obtaining a managerial position faster than other newcomers. As part of the agreement reached, Irina has already been assigned the position of underground mine surveyor, which she will take up after graduating from the university.
This year, several dozen students of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University completed academic and industrial training at the mining and metallurgical company “Norilsk Nickel.