ALROSA DIAMONDS EXPANDS WENCO’S MINE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

In the fourth quarter of 2004 ALROSA Diamond Company commissioned Wenco’s mine management system at the Jubilee mine. Installed on 81 pieces of mobile mining equipment including HaulPak, Terex and BeLAZ trucks, Demag, EKG and LeTourneau loading equipment, and SBSH drills, the production department and mine management have been using Wenco’s “MineVision” and “Fleet Control” software to make use of real-time information regarding equipment status and productivity.

The foremen and dispatchers of Jubilee Mine have successfully employed automatic dispatching, speed control, payload monitoring and other features of the Wenco system. The Speed Control Module is designed to improve upon the safe operations of equipment by monitoring their velocity against haul road speed limits.

ALROSA has reported that Jubilee mine has increased the volume of truck haulage by 13% in first year allowing for a savings of US$ 2.8 million in operating costs as a result of the Wenco System.

Based on these results and the system reliability ALROSA is equipping 4 drills with digital recording equipment to monitor and transmit drilling parameters.

Additional software modules for recording fuel consumption will also be installed. A fuel station computer and onboard equipment interfaces to fuel sensors will provide detailed information on fuel quantities delivered and used as well as aid in the automatic dispatching of equipment to the fuel bay when required.

Wenco’s local specialists will continue to provide full-time onsite support for system software and hardware. They assist dispatchers and other users in the general operation of the system, provide additional training as and when required, and ensure that that the mine is using the system in an efficient and effective manner. Additional remote technical support is provided from Wenco’s head office in Vancouver.

About ALROSA
Russia's largest diamond company engaged in exploration, mining, manufacture and sales of diamonds and one of the world's major rough diamond producers. ALROSA accounts for 100% of all rough diamonds produced in Russia and about 20% of the world's rough diamond output. Geological surveys indicate that the company has sufficient diamond reserves to maintain production at the current level for the next 50 years. Though under its present name the company has operated since 1993, it has a longer history that dates back to 1954 when Russia's first diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe was discovered. http://eng.alrosa.ru /

About Wenco International Mining Systems Ltd.
Wenco provides GPS-based fleet management systems for open pit mines worldwide. The system provides sophisticated automatic dispatching to maximize production while delivering specified ore qualities, plus high precision GPS applications for the positioning and guidance of excavators, dozers and drills. The products and services include real-time control and reporting software, an Oracle© or MS SQL Server© database, Windows-based computer terminals for mobile equipment, a broadband radio communications infrastructure, as well as installation, training and commissioning services. Founded in 1986, Wenco can be found at www.wencomine.com.