Norilsk Players' Wives Visit Nornickel Plant

Eleven wives of players from the Norilsk hockey club were taken round the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant on 29 September, an excursion arranged by Norilsk Nickel after the women asked for one, according to Severny Gorod.

The group toured the plant museum and the smelting shop, watching the flash smelting furnace, the tapping of matte and the blowing of converters. Before entering the production areas they changed into protective clothing and were briefed on respirator use and movement around the site. They also saw the moulds where copper-nickel matte, an intermediate product containing sulphides of copper, nickel, cobalt and sulphur, is produced.

Nadezhda Verbitskaya, chief specialist in the protocol events department of the Zapolyarny branch director's office at Norilsk Nickel, described part of the visit.

"The group then went down to smelting shop No. 1 and made its way to the flash smelting furnace, where they watched the tapping of matte, an NMZ intermediate product, a melt containing 55% non-ferrous metals — nickel and copper. The women watched the matte being tapped and then moved into the converter section, where they saw the impressive process of blowing," said Verbitskaya.

The women were also told about the sulphur programme, one of Norilsk Nickel's largest and most recent projects.

Miroslava Klimovich, wife of one of the club's players, spoke about settling into life in Norilsk.

"Home is where you build a relationship with yourself, where you bring a bit of yourself and your own energy into it. I feel good here, although I am afraid of the cold. I am in a positive frame of mind. Where else could I see the northern lights, look round Norilsk Nickel's plants and learn more about the company? I really liked the museum, and the shops we visited impressed me with their power and scale. The sparks flying are simply striking. It was the first time I felt the unpredictability of fire," said Klimovich.

The visit points to a working relationship between the club and its regional backer that runs beyond the rink, with Norilsk Nickel opening up its plants to the players' families.