Shaft Tower #2 at Oyuntolgoi Gold Mine, Mongolia
Project Overview:
Oyu Tolgoi (Oyu Tolgoi) gold and copper mine is located in Mongolia's South Gobi Province, Khan Bogd County (less than 100 kilometres from the border with China), known as one of the world's large-scale gold and copper mines, the copper belt area equivalent to the scope of the urban area of Ulaanbaatar, the mine contains a gold belt slightly less than the area of the urban area of Ulaanbaatar, with a preliminary proved reserves of 31.1 million tonnes of copper, 1,328 tonnes of gold reserves, silver reserves of 7,600 tonnes of silver. The preliminary reserves are 31.1 million tonnes of copper, 1,328 tonnes of gold and 7,600 tonnes of silver. The mine commenced production in July 2013 and is expected to last for 50 years. China and Mongolia have reached a number of cooperation agreements on marketing and transport, which will facilitate the sale and transport of minerals, promote the development of the copper mine and Mongolia's economy, and are of great significance to the realisation of Mongolia's strategy of "Mining for a Better Country". The next phase of large-scale development of the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine not only heralds a new era of modernisation for Mongolia, but also marks an important turning point for the global mining industry. Over the past two years, the mining industry has been fully focussed on scaling back investment as the so-called commodities 'super cycle' has lost its function. Oyu Tolgoi marks the first major project to move forward in the current cycle, which could prompt other mining companies to reconsider developing new capacity, particularly in copper.
The shaft tower is 75 meters above ground and 24 meters below ground, and the overall project is being constructed in the reverse direction underground. The difficulty of this project is that the temporary trenching steel structure alternates with the permanent steel structure and needs to be replaced in the confined underground space.