Results of the «Golden Hephaestus-2017»

On May 25th, Astana hosted a solemn award ceremony to honor the winners of the “Golden Hephaestus” National Industry Competition.

The Golden Hephaestus National Industry Competition is an annual contest to recognize the professionals, companies and projects of the sector as well as outstanding tutors and journalists. This year, the celebration in the honor of miners and metal workers was held in a truly royal manner – in the Saltanat Sarayi Reception Hall. The ceremony was led by Syrym Kashkabayev and Olga Spirina, while the Astana String Quartet furnished the musical illustration of the gathering.

The ceremony started with the felicitations to the heroes of the day: in this year Kazzink LLP commemorates its 20th anniversary, and Kazakhstan Electrolysis Plant (KEP), which is a part of the Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), celebrates the 10th jubilee along with the becoming one of the top ten aluminum global giants.

Traditionally, the winners receive awards from the senior officials of the sector ministries and CEOs of the key industry players to bring into focus the importance of the awards and showcase the scale of the recognition. People of labor constitute the golden assets of the country, the principal wealth of the Republic. This year ceremony was attended by Alik Aidarbayev, the First Vice-Minister for Investments and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Zhenis Kassymbek, the Minister for Investments and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Saginov Zamir Sadykovich, the Executive Secretary of the Ministry for Investments and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kaztayev Aldiyar Aslanovich, the Chairman of the Board of ERG, Eldar Mamedov, the Chairman of the Board of KAZ Minerals Management LLP, and Nikolai Radostovets, the Executive Director of the Republican Association of Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises as they complimented the nominees.

The secret balloting, which, as is customary, was accomplished shortly before the ceremony, literally two hours before the beginning, was keeping all 190 nominees of this year competition on their toes! This was the record number of the participants over the eight years of the history of the competition!

The first prize in the “Geologist of the Year” nomination went to the field-worker “by birth” – Zharmukhambetov Mazhit Nurbayevich, the Director in Subsoil Use of the Technical Directorate of Eurasian Resources Group. Mazhit Nurbayevich was conferred with the “Enbek Danky” of the Third Category, “The Excellent Worker of the Subsoil Use Exploration”, and “The Honorary Prospector of the Subsoil of Kazakhstan” badges of achievements.

The judges of the competition awarded the “Miner of the Year” prize to Solovjev Sergei Nikolayevich, the lead mining engineer of the technical and investment planning division of Vostoktsvetmet LLP. Sergei Nikolayevich has over 45 years of the working experience in the industry, always being on the frontline – it was him who initiated the change of the opening scheme of the bottom levels of the Annenskaya Mine resulting in the economic benefits of more than 10 million dollars, and it was also him who developed a number of patents for the re-mining of the Zhezkazgan field and stripping of the Anisimov Kluch deposit.

Karynbayev Tlek Oralbekovich, the operator of the mixing and charge preparation equipment of the titanium ingots and alloys workshop of Ust-Kamenogorsk Titanium and Magnesium Plant JSC, became the “Metallurgist of the Year”. Tlek Oralbekovich was awarded with the “Enbek Danky” of the Third Category and the “Fifty Years of UK TMP JSC” Anniversary Medal.

The “Project of the Year” is a very special nomination. It recognizes activities of those mining and metallurgical enterprises that have successfully implemented industrial projects aiming to enhance economic growth and social development as well as expansion of the production areas. This year, it is the project of KAZ minerals Aktogay LLP, dedicated to the development of the Aktogay deposit and construction of Aktogay Mining and Refining Plant, which has been considered the best in this category. The development of this deposit has been included into the State Program of the Industrial and Innovative Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, being one of the two largest strategic projects of KAZ Minerals Group.

The “Innovation Leader” title went to INTERRIN Scientific-Production Enterprise, while Kazzinc LLP has been predictably selected as the Kazakhstan Contents Leader. For 2016, the percentage of the GWS purchased from the domestic commodity producers for the subsoil use activities in respect of the annual procurement program has arrived at the level of 67.88 %!

The Golden Hephaestus Competition provides strong support to the talented young people and reputable and committed tutors – on top of the honor and recognition from the industry peers, these nominations have also money prizes.

The title of the “Academic Tutor” went to Krupnik Leonid Andreyevich, Doctor of Engineering of the Kazakh National Research Technical University after K.I. Satpayev. In 2016, five large projects were implemented under the academic advising of Leonid Andreyevich, with the impressive outcome of three doctors in engineering, eight candidates of technical sciences, two Ph.Ds in Engineering and eight holders of the Master’s degree!

The winner in the “Thesis of the Year” category is Mashkenova Aizhan Yerlanovna from the Karaganda State Technical University.

ERG, the Title Partner of the Golden Hephaestus Prize, has a tradition to select a winner in its own nomination. Following the judgment of the experts of the Company, the “Best Solution in Energy Preservation” prize has been given to the Transnational Company “Kazchrome” with its project on the qualitative standardization of the energy carrier consumption.

Fifty six journalists were battling for the prize in the “Best Journalist Material on the Mining and Metallurgical Complex in the Mass-Media and Internet Resources”. This year, the choice of the judges belongs to Gusev Oleg Ivanovich, the correspondent of Atameken Business Channel, with his series of materials about the challenges of the iron-and-steel industry of Kazakhstan.

The TV-show “Bolgert. Industries – Industrialization of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2016: Outcomes and Prospects” was recognized as the best TV-material (presenter – Evgeniy Bolgert, producer – Mirana Nusupbekova, Atameken Business Channel).

The winner of the “Best Journalist Material on the Man of Labor in the Mining” was the article of Burjanov Vladimir Alexandrovich, named “Uncle Sasha on the horizon: minus 160 in regard to the level of the Baltic Sea”, published in Express K, a social-political national newspaper.

A very touching moment of the Golden Hephaestus Ceremony was the honoring of Albert Pavlovich Rau. In his speech, Zhenis Kassymbek emphasized that “this man was literally standing at the very dawn of the present day MMC. He put his own heart and soul to help Kazakhstan in becoming the country known for its achievements in this sector, and we do feel proud for where we are now. Over many years, he provided an immense support to AMM Congress which has become such a significant event much due to his efforts!”