Russian Scientists Create Superhard Alloy for Mining in Arctic Region

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian scientists have developed a new generation of extra hard alloys, which will be used for the creation of equipment for mining in the extreme conditions of the Arctic region, Yevgeny Levashov, the project manager and a professor of the Russian National University of Science and Technology, stated.

"This is a technology for the production of a new generation of coarse-grained hard alloys with a particularly homogeneous structure with rounded tungsten carbide grains and a nanomodified cobalt binder", Levashov said.

According to the scientist, the new alloys were created as part of the state programme for the development of the Arctic region and they will double the strength and durability of mining equipment.

An employee in protective clothing takes a sample from the furnace at the steel producer, Salzgitter AG, in Salzgitter, Germany, Thursday, March 22, 2018

© AP Photo / Markus Schreiber

Industrial tests of the new alloy were conducted in late November at a mine in Russia's Kemerovo region where a combine machine processed over 700 cubic meters of rock at a depth of 820 feet.

The new development is expected to significantly increase the efficiency of mining in the Arctic region.