Solikamsk Magnesium Plant (SMZ) is a leading company in its industry. The basic technologies developed at the enterprise have become the basis for the creation of many industries in the chemical industry. The history of the plant began back in 1430.
Salt mines
Salt is a very lucrative business at all times. The enterprising merchants of the Kalinnikovs on the banks of the Usolka River in 1430 organized salt mining. The first buildings on the site of modern Solikamsk were wooden pick-up pipes, premises for saltworks. Simple production gradually expanded, in 1506 the city received its first name - Usolye on Kamsky. Later the name was changed to Usolye Kamskoye, in the seventeenth century the decently grown salt mine was already a big city and began to be called Sol Kamskaya, from which the modern name Solikamsk was formed.
Subsoil exploration
The successful transit position of the city in the 17th century allowed it to become the hub of economic relations between the European part of Russia and China. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, there were several leather processing enterprises in the city, sewing workshops for leather goods, brick and wineries, banks, gymnasiums, libraries and cinematography worked. The revolution of 1917 served to sharply reduce the population of the city and for some time it remained in the status of a village. The revival of the city was observed with the beginning of the formation of the country's industry. Already in the 30s, the situation changed dramatically. The country began to actively develop numerous mineral deposits of the Perm Territory.
Factory for the national industry
The discovery of the Verkhnekamsk potash deposit occurred in 1907 when the Lyudmilovskoye well was drilled on the Usolka River, but this discovery did not attract any particular attention. Only in 1916, academician Kurnakov conducted the first studies of “red salt”, which showed a high percentage of potassium and sodium industrial salts. The Soviet government was able to begin exploration of the deposit only in the 1920s.
October 1925 is considered the beginning of the entire potash industry of the USSR: from the fifth to the sixth of October, the first drilling of the potash deposit was carried out, which gave rise to the future laying of several industrial enterprises of the Perm Territory. Solikamsk Magnesium Plant began its work in 1936. The main builders of the enterprise were political prisoners, repressed, special settlers and a small number of local people.
Prewar achievements
March 14, 1936 - a memorable day in the history of the enterprise, on this day the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant released the first metal ingot and laid the foundation for its history. There were no enterprises on the territory of the country similar to a neglected plant, but the value of the volatile metal was clear to the country's leadership. The best scientific forces were thrown at the development of production capacities and technologies. Technological innovations, first introduced and tested within the walls of the plant, became the property of many enterprises in the chemical industry.
Over the years, the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant has become not only a pioneer in the development of new technologies. On the basis of the enterprise, numerous scientific studies were carried out, as a result of which the employees made discoveries in the chemical industry, and created models of a fundamentally new technological equipment. Over the years, the staff of the enterprise has shown enthusiasm and interest in the development of the plant, which made it possible to obtain new types of products for the national economy. Today, SMZ is the oldest of all the world's operating magnesium plants.
War years
By the beginning of the Second World War, in 1941, the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant was the only enterprise in the country that supplied magnesium to the national economy and the army. The beginning of the war found the plant unfinished, which did not prevent the work team from fulfilling supply plans and constantly increasing production. During the war years, the production of "flying metal" was increased four times in comparison with the pre-war years. The selfless work of the enterprise employees brought the victory closer, more than two thousand employees were awarded with the medal “For Valiant Labor During the War”.
Postwar progress
In the years of post-war reconstruction, new workshops were laid at the enterprise, advanced technologies were mastered, and new types of equipment were being developed. So, in 1946, the first experimental workshop in the history of the industry was created, thanks to which new technologies for processing raw materials were developed and put into production, technological processes and production lines for the magnesium industry were tested. In the 60s, lines for processing magnesium scrap were launched, technologies and apparatuses for processing titanium-containing raw materials were created, industrial tests of new technologies that had no analogues in world practice were made.
Turn of the Century
Until the nineties of the last century, OJSC Solikamsk Magnesium Plant continued its innovative activities and increased production capacity, and in 1985 the enterprise received an award for the contribution to the victory - the Order of the Patriotic War of the first degree. In 1991, the company became a participant in foreign economic activity. A new technological revolution began with the expansion of the types of products: in 1992, a titanium dioxide production line was launched. This allowed the plant to become a member of the International Association of Tantalum and Niobium Producers, and two years later to become a full member of the Association of Magnesium Producers.
The years 1995-2003 were marked by the development and commissioning of rare-metal production. Modernization of production lines, the development of new technologies, increasing production capacities and production output - these are the tasks that the administration and the team set for themselves, united under the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant brand. The history of the enterprise is the history of victories and new discoveries.
Mission, goals, objectives
OJSC Solikamsk Magnesium Plant sees its mission in providing consumers with quality products, thereby contributing to the development of the domestic industrial high-tech market. The company’s team also seeks to provide international trade relations with the best raw materials for foreign customers. Building mutually beneficial relationships with all participants in production and trade processes is an important component of the enterprise. Much attention is paid to the environmental safety of chemical production, for this the company has developed a number of measures that minimize environmental damage.
The mission of the company includes caring for the staff of the enterprise, for this a lot of attention is paid to improving the qualifications of workers, the regime of work, rest, compliance with the norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, but not only does this lead the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant. The personnel department and the labor protection department attract highly qualified specialists to the enterprise, take care of veterans, provide medical care and much more.
The main types of products
Providing related industries with high-quality raw materials - this is the main objective of the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant. Products manufactured at the enterprise are divided into three main types of production:
- Magnesium: primary magnesium, magnesium alloys, ligatures.
- Rare-metal: compounds of niobium, tantalum; titanium sponges and titanium compounds; compounds of carbonates, oxides.
- Chemical: quicklime, calcium chloride in solution, liquid chlorine in containers.
All activities of the plant are provided by the employees of the enterprise, there are about three thousand people, united in a single structure called Solikamsk Magnesium Plant. Jobs for applicants can be found on the company's website or in recruiting agencies. Work at the SMZ is prestigious, for a candidate with qualifications there will always be a place and a good salary.
The attitude of the enterprise to the metallurgical industry sometimes plays a cruel joke on consumer requests, which the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant cannot avoid. Profiled sheeting, a popular and useful finishing and building material, has nothing to do with SMZ, which sometimes disappoints the end customer.
Cooperation
Today, the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant is a monopolist in Russia for the production of titanium sponges and titanium alloys. These products are used in many industries:
- Aircraft and rocket science. Media parts, fuel tanks, individual body and casing parts, compressor parts and so on.
- Gas and oil industry.
- Shipbuilding. Parts of the hull and skin for submarines and ships, screws, pipes and so on.
- Chemical industry.
- Food industry.
- Medical industry.
- The military industry.
The company is constantly upgrading technological lines. At the time of the founding of the plant, its production capacities were calculated on the production of one thousand tons of magnesium during the year; by the present period, SMZ produces almost seventeen thousand tons of magnesium per year. In the list of the most successful strategic enterprises of the country, the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant takes pride of place. The tenders announced by the company are mainly focused on the purchase of spare parts for equipment of technological lines.
Responsibility
In terms of ownership, SMZ is an open joint-stock company. In this regard, at the time of the transition to a new form of management, the enterprise issued packages of simple and preferred securities under the brand name Solikamsk Magnesium Plant. Shares are highly quoted on exchanges, brokers consider investments in SMZ securities promising in terms of long-term profit. This is due to the plans of the enterprise to increase the production of magnesium to forty-two thousand tons per year, steady demand for the rest of the plant's products.
In 2015, the board of directors changed the CEO of Solikamsk Magnesium Plant. The director, or rather the general director, is a person liable to shareholders, employees and partners. According to a press release dated June 3, 2015, D.M. was appointed to the position of Director General Melnikov.