This year, Kuzbass Fuel Company marks 25 years since its formation. During this time, production capacity has expanded significantly and a highly professional team has been formed that can cope with any complex mining tasks. About 20 specialists continue to work at the Vinogradovsky open-pit mine almost from the moment of its foundation and deserve deep gratitude for their reliability and fidelity to their chosen work.
One of these “old-timers” of the mine is the operator of the Komatsu D375A No. 12 bulldozer Alexey Dolenko. He got the mining profession, one might say, by inheritance: “My father worked on a walking excavator. By the time I came of age, I didn’t have a clear idea of what exactly I wanted to do. Therefore, he served in the army, and upon his return, in company with friends, he took a course for bulldozer drivers and six months later received a driver’s license. I learned from friends that the new Vinogradovsky open-pit mine requires specialists, and for about 20 years I have not changed my place of work or my once chosen profession.”
An experienced bulldozer operator remembers his first mentor with gratitude: “The practice of mentoring, at one time, helped very well to get into the working rhythm. My mentor was Alexander Spiridovich, who for three months showed me what to do in each area of work, and provided an important basis and vector for studying the profession.”
Over the years, Alexey was able to work on several models of bulldozer: “I remember how we worked in the open-pit mine with only two B-100 bulldozers. All features were studied at the time of work. Then domestic bulldozers of the T35 model with improved equipment controls went into operation. There was already something to compare with and evaluate the advantages of the new technology. Then imported Komatsu brands appeared. Here not only the hydraulics and driving properties are at a decent level, but also the driver’s comfort is taken into account.”
Alexey Dolenko’s main professional secret is his attention to detail and special settings of the machine: “The peculiarity of the bulldozer is moving loads using the front blade (blade), which limits the view, and the main reference point in control is the feeling of the dimensions of the machine and the smoothness of its movement. In general, it is important to feel your technique and act in accordance with its potential. And this cannot be explained in words. Even just changing to another bulldozer of the same model, it takes half a day to adapt and get used to it.
Alexey notes that the performance of a bulldozer is the responsibility and coherence of the actions of the entire crew, which is why it is so important to be able to work in a team: “We have a good team and this is a significant help: there is no need to remind us about some technical details: tighten something up, lubricate running parts somewhere. Everyone is attentive to technology. A vulnerable state is noticed in a timely manner. And work is, one might say, a second family, so confidence in colleagues is an important factor in work.”
A lot has been done and a lot is still ahead, shares Alexey: “A lot of work has been done over the past 20 years. Almost half of life in the vast expanse of the mountain sections of the section has passed. But this is not the end. There are still 8 years until retirement, which means there’s still plenty of work to be done.”
