In Mongolia, a country of very limited

underground mining, until now, it is

remarkable to be 1,300 m below the surface

of the Gobi Desert and witness the work going

on to develop what will be one of the world’s

great block cave operations. The Oyu Tolgoi

(OT) story is both fascinating and full of

technological achievements, with many more

of those to come. When it moves into full

production, it will be one of the world's top

three copper-gold mines.

Under the Investment Agreement with the

Government of Mongolia, OT will extract a

maximum of 86 Mt/y, and a minimum of 26

Mt/y of ore. In the next 65 years it will extract

2,801 Mt of material from the open pit and

2,170 Mt from underground. There will be a

five-year ramp up to full expected annual

production of 450,000 t of copper and

330,000 oz of gold.

Construction of the copper-gold

concentrator is underway and the project is

ahead of schedule. Production of the first

concentrate is now expected in late 2012, with

a build up to the start of commercial

production in 2013. Over its currently planned

life, it will produce a total of 78 Mt of

concentrate containing of 22.7 Mt of copper,

26 Moz of gold, 170 Mt of silver and 58,566 t

of molybdenum. OT will begin operating at 35

Mt/y for the five-years (Phase I).

From the sixth year (Phase II), it will be able

to haul concentrate by rail to market and will

expand the concentrator’s production capacity

to 58 Mt/y of ore. Lying just 80 km north of

the Chinese border, and with another great

industrial powerhouse, Russia, to the north, its

products should be in strong demand.

On December 13, Ivanhoe Mines announced

the approval of a $2.3 billion budget for 2011,

which is to be the peak year of activity on the

first phase of construction. Construction then

was already 13% complete toward initial

production in 2012. The work just approved

includes measures to facilitate a future 60%

expansion of production capacity to up to

160,000 t/d from the initial 100,000 t/d.

John Macken, Ivanhoe Mines President said:

Oyu TolgoiDeep in the Gobi Desert,gers in the originalconstruction camp

“Our ramp-up to full-scale construction during

2010 was so successful that we now are

targeting to deliver the first ore to the

concentrator up to six months earlier than

previously projected. OyuTolgoi should be

making its first sales of copper and gold in

concentrate produced from ore from the

Southern Oyu open pit during the fourth

quarter of 2012.

“Outstanding work by our project team,

which currently includes 3,000 Mongolian men

and women, means that the accelerated

development program will generate earlier

revenues, while we also are maintaining the

pace of development of the future

underground block-cave mine at the copper-

rich Hugo Dummett deposit.”

Principal elements of the 2011 construction

program include:

■ $561 million for the concentrator, which will

see complete enclosure of the building,

completion of steel work for the overland

ore conveyor, installation of one of four ball

mills and installation of all material-handling

equipment in the pebble crusher

■ $186 million to purchase the initial mining

fleet of trucks, shovels and ancillary

equipment, and to start pre-stripping of the

Southern Oyu open pit

■ $713 million for project infrastructure and

electrical power, including completion of the

central substation, completion of the

process-water supply, completion of the

truck maintenance workshop and phases

one and two of the operations camp

■ $211 million for ongoing underground mine

development at Hugo North, construction of

the headframe on Shaft #2 and further

sinking of Shaft #2, which are critical to

development of the block-cave mine

planned to begin production in 2015.

Bloomberg recently reported Sumitomo won

a $132 million order for “trucks, six large

Komatsu bulldozers and other mining

machines.” The order includes 27 930E-SE

trucks from the Peoria factory. This electric-

drive truck is powered by the Komatsu

SSDA18V170 diesel engine developing gross

OPERATION FOCUS – Mongolia

John Chadwick visited a developing

copper/gold complex in the South Gobi

Desert that includes one of the most

advanced underground mines in the world.

In this is the first of a two-part article he

examines the peak construction year – 2011

OPERATION FOCUS – Mongolia

power of 2,611 kW @ 1,900 rpm. The

standard body holds 171 m3 struck and 211

m3 (2:1 heap) – maximum gross vehicle

weight, 505.8 t.

Total capital required for phase one from

January 1, 2011, to the start of commissioning

of the ore processing plant, which is planned

for the second half of 2012, is projected to be

$3.5 billion. This includes approximately $2.9

billion to complete construction of the

Southern Oyu open pit, processing plant and

essential infrastructure, including electricity,

water, roads, a paved airport runway and

Mongolian-designed passenger terminal; it also

includes taxes and continued underground

development of the phase-two Hugo North

mine.

The commissioning will be followed later in

2012 by initial phase-one production, and then

commercial production is expected during the

first half of 2013. Capital required from

January 1, 2011, through to completion of

phase-one is expected to total some $4.5

billion. This estimate makes no allowance for

potential revenues from the sale of copper-

gold concentrate produced from the milling of

a projected 9 Mt of stockpiled ore in the

weeks of initial production in 2012.

One key is the ongoing construction of the

31-storey-high Shaft #2 headframe and sinking

of the 10-m diameter, concrete-lined shaft (IM,

January 2011). Shaft #2 is the first production

shaft and the key personnel and materials

shaft for the Hugo North block-cave mine,

which is the biggest value driver for the OT

project. Phase-one capital costs also cover the

underground lateral development program,

geotechnical program and mine planning and

expansion studies through to mid-2012. Final

design of the underground mine is set for

2012, when decisions will be made about its

optimum production rates. Capital spending to

the end of 2010 will have included $337

million spent on underground-mine

development off Shaft #1.

Macken said that the engineering and

construction stages will accommodate a major

increase in ore processing capacity in the

future while minimising potential disruption to

operations that will be underway at the time.

“Wherever possible, we have taken the

opportunity to allow for expansion with

minimal impact on operations. Our plans call

for initial production of 100,000 t/d of ore and

we expect to move to between 150,000 and

160,000 t/d when ore from underground

becomes available. To facilitate this expansion,

we are building a third reclaim tunnel that will

increase the capacity to feed ore to the

concentrator by 50% to 60% over our initial

rate of production. To cater to future increased

production, we have installed a pipeline that,

with minor modifications, can supply water for

processing up to 160,000 t/d. We’ve allowed

for expansion in the

concentrator by adding space in

the flotation area and installing

other equipment to handle

higher production. We also

have on-going studies

examining options to process

additional underground ore and

stockpiled open-pit ore.”

In another development, the

Oyu Tolgoi Technical Committee

has decided to increase the

capacity of the mining fleet’s

trucks, opting for 290-t units

that will help to move an

estimated 112 Mt/y of ore and

waste – a 12% increase over an earlier plan.

Pre-stripping of the open-pit mine will begin in

2011 to ensure that planned production levels

can be achieved.

Initial throughput will be 100,000 t/d of ore

mined in the Southern Oyu open pit to provide

feed for the commissioning of the

concentrator. Next there will be an 85,000 t/d

underground block-cave mine at Hugo North,

with initial production expected to begin in

2015. Underground mine development is

already stockpiling development ore on

surface. The throughput capacity of the

concentrator plant is expected to be expanded

when the underground mine begins

production.

A vast resourceThe Investment Agreement created a

partnership between the Mongolian

Government – which will acquire a 34%

interest in the project – and Ivanhoe Mines,

which will retain a controlling 66% interest in

Oyu Tolgoi LLC. Rio Tinto joined Ivanhoe Mines

as a strategic partner three years prior to the

signing of the agreement.

In December last year Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe

signed a new agreement under which Rio

Tinto has assumed direct management of the

project and will provide a comprehensive

financial package to Ivanhoe that is expected

to help secure the development of the project

approximately six months ahead of schedule in

late 2012. Rio Tinto will provide the project

with a comprehensive financing package,

including a $1.8 billion interim loan facility,

whilst Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe work together to

complete project financing; exercising Rio

Tinto’s remaining warrants for common shares

in Ivanhoe and participating fully in Ivanhoe’s

$1.2 billion rights offering. Rio will secure its

right to increase its ownership in Ivanhoe

Mines to 49% through acquiring a total of 20

million shares at current market prices.

68 International Mining APRIL 2011

At the time of the agreement signing, Bret

Clayton, Chief Executive of Rio Tinto's Copper

and Diamonds group, confirmed that OT is

consistent with Rio Tinto's strategy of investing

in large, long life, low cost orebodies. "While

the size and grade of the existing Oyu Tolgoi

ore reserves and mineral resources are already

world class, we are also excited by significant

exploration upside that still remains," he said.

"We plan to be a partner here in Mongolia for

decades to come."

Decades for sure: the Ivanhoe Mines licence

has a strike length of 12.4 km, as the diagram

shows. North and south of the Ivanhoe licence

is the Ivanhoe-Entrée licence, including most of

the Heruga deposit, and then there is the

anticipated mineralised zone between the

developing open pit and Heruga, which is

subject to ongoing exploration. At current

resources, Heruga alone contains over 9,000

Mlb of copper and over 14 Moz of gold. It is a

worldclass, gold-rich copper porphyry deposit

with elevated molybdenum content. Oyu

Tolgoi LLC holds (as a participant) an 80%

interest in the Entrée-Ivanhoe Joint Venture.

Currently planning assumes processing of

1,400 Mt of ore over a 27 year period, mined

OPERATION FOCUS – Mongolia

APRIL 2011 International Mining 69

NORMET

OPERATION FOCUS – Mongolia

from the Southern Oyu open pit and the first

lift in the Hugo North underground block cave.

In its technical report of June 2010 (IDP10)

AmecMinproc notes the Life of Mine

(Sensitivity) Case extends the mine inventory to

include inferred material and assumes

processing of 3,010 Mt over 60 years. In this

case, resources from the planned second lift in

Hugo North, Hugo South and the Heruga

deposit are added to the mining inventory.

These are not just vast tonnages, they are

reasonable grades also. Just referring to the

Hugo North sections, the first block cave will

be of +2% copper equivalent (CuEq) ore. And

deeper, the Hugo North Gold Zone is +3% CuEq.

In total, the Southern Oyu Measured +

Indicated resources amount to 567.23 Mt at

0.62% Cu and 0.55 g/t Au(0.97% CuEq), with

a further 88.5 Mt Inferred at 0.73% CuEq.

Ivanhoe’s Hugo North Indicated resource totals

703.2 Mt at 2.07% CuEq with 722.8 Mt at

1.17% CuEq Inferred. Then

there is the Indicated

ShiveeTolgoi (the JV with

Entrée Gold) resource of 117

Mt at 2.19% CuEq and 95.5

Mt at 1.35% CuEq Inferred.

Bringing in Hugo South and

Heruga, the total Oyu Tolgoi

Measured + Indicated

resource is 1,387.43 Mt at

1.33% Cu and 0.47 g/t

Au(1.63% CuEq)with

another 2,367.13 Mt at

0.78% Cu and 0.33 g/t Au

(1.02% CuEq).

Five deposits have been

identified in OyuTolgoi’s

mineral resource –

Southwest and Central, Hugo South, Hugo

North and Heruga. Southwest and Central

comprise the Southern Oyu deposit and Hugo

South and Hugo North comprise the Hugo

Dummett deposit. For mine planning purposes,

the nine open pit stages at Southern Oyu and

one block cave at Hugo North have been

identified for the mineral reserve. In addition to

these, long term mine planning has identified

potential for another block cave lift at Hugo

North, open pit or block caving at Hugo South

and two block caving scenarios at Heruga.

Mine planning work undertaken to date

suggests the following relative ranking for

overall return from each deposit, from highest

value to lowest:

■ Hugo North

■ Southwest

■ Central

■ Hugo South or Heruga.

The OT complex at Omnogovi Aimag lies

some 570 km south of the capital city of

Ulaanbaatar. Access from Ulaanbaatar is

possible by an unpaved road, via Mandalgovi,

or by air. A 2,000 m long gravel airstrip was

constructed at the site and is well used. Road

infrastructure to China is being upgraded and

an additional rail line is planned.

The property ranges in elevation from 1,140

m to 1,215 m above sea level and has a

relatively flat undulating topography with less

than 50 m of relief. It is located on a desert

steppe with desert vegetation and consists of

gravel covered plains, with low hills along its

northern and eastern borders. Ephemeral

streams are present which cross the area and

flow for a few short periods in an average

summer. Temperatures at Oyu Tolgoi range

from ~ 36°C to ~ -25°C. Total precipitation is

~ 100 mm per year and for the most part falls

as rain in late spring and summer.

Leading MongoliaundergroundGoing underground at Shaft #1 you are in an

extremely modern underground mine. As

noted in the shafts article in the January issue,

Andre Zeelie, OT’s Deputy Director of Mining,

believes Mongolia will become a world leader

in underground mining. Certainly both Shafts

#1 and #2 are impressive and innovative

developments, as noted in that article.

Redpath is the shaft sinking contractor on

site and is the principal mining and

construction contractor. Redpath undertakes a

lot of this sort of work at Freeport Indonesia

(IM, January 2010, pp12-24 and February

2010, pp10-18) and Damian Rogers, OT’s

General Manager Underground, explains that

there are a lot of Freeport veterans in the

Redpath team in Mongolia, “leveraging that

experience.”

OT is a leader both globally and nationally.

Mongolia has little underground mining and

while regulations and standards do exist, they

need bringing up to date. So, OT is leading the

Mongolian mining industry underground and

helping establish worldclass standards. Rogers

explains that there is often

a shortage of prescriptive

mining and construction

standards and the policy at

the mine, if no Mongolian

standard exists, is to refer

to the more prescriptive

Ontario standards.

There is a great deal of

Canadian and Australian

influence – two of the

bastions of the best in

underground mining.

Rogers and his team also

have a great deal of respect

for the technologies,

methods and achievements

of El Teniente in Chile.

Sandvik 517 LHD

Bret Clayton, Chief Executive of Rio Tinto's Copper

and Diamonds group: “We are excited by significant

exploration upside that still remains.” Major drilling is

doing a lot of work

70 International Mining APRIL 2011

Looking even farther forward, Rio Tinto is

working with the University of BC and the

Mongolian University of Science and

Technology (MUST) to add a block cave unit to

the country’s mining engineering degree.

As yet there is no real skill pool for

underground mining in Mongolia but Rogers

says there are many intelligent, hard working

Mongolians ready to take on the jobs at OT.

It’s a “big credit to Redpath,” he explains that

Mongolians make up 78% of the underground

construction workforce. The success of the

training of Mongolian nationals to work

underground can, Rogers says, be judged by

the safety record.

To the end of the third quarter of 2010,

Redpath had achieved 566 days Lost Time

Accident Free, compared with 86 days for all

contractors. Shaft #1 uses the Redpath safety

system (Safety – First, Last and Always) which

incorporates the following concepts:

■ Five-point safety system

■ Internal responsibility system

■ Good management not good luck

■ Loss management

■ Continuous improvement

■ Employee improvement

■ Visible management commitment

■ Simplicity

■ Due diligence

■ Measuring criteria.

A key activity for all OT’s contractors is to

train Mongolian nationals. Qualified and

experienced expatriate trainers are employed.

All new employees receive a two-week

classroom induction. When placed on the job,

each one is assigned a mentor to train and

monitor them. Task specific specialty training is

provided with all underground employees

assessed and accredited to Canadian

Underground Hard Rock Common Core

Competencies.

In an evolving mega-mine project like this it

is important to keep everyone up to date. For

that reason re-inductions are mandatory for all

national and expatriate employees upon return

from their roster break to review any policy

and procedural changes instituted while they

were off site.

Simulators will play an important role in

underground machine operator training. Atlas

Copco’s Boomer M2 Cs will be important

development jumbos and the mine already has

an Atlas Copco simulator for these machines.

ThoroughTec Simulation delivered two

CYBERMINE4 underground mining simulator

base units to the mine in 2011. The

CYBERMINE4 range is ThoroughTec’s fourth

generation of mining simulators and is

upgraded with many new features including a

full 360° panoramic display, enhanced

reporting software, and two HD instructor

screens in an improved classroom-like design.

In addition to purchasing the two

containerised simulator base units, OT also

purchased plug-and-play simulator cabs for: an

Atlas Copco Boltec MC, a Sandvik Toro 40D, a

Sandvik LH517 and a shotcrete sprayer to be

based on the Normet Spraymec 1050. The

specified cabs have been purposely chosen to

cover the main development activities at the

mine and will afford all employees valuable

training experience following their classroom

induction.

ThoroughTec notes that although OT has

purchased underground mining simulator base

units, for open-pit operator training it “will still

be able to purchase surface mining cabs in the

future and operate them on the underground

simulator base unit with a unique cross-

platform adaptor kit and surface mine world,

significantly lowering the total cost of

ownership.”

To increase the training experience gains

from the simulator, ThoroughTec will be

developing a custom CYBERMINE World which

will accurately replicate the tunnel geometry

and operating conditions of Hugo North mine.

Students can therefore be familiar with its

underground mining environment before

venturing underground.

It was 2004 when Redpath was first

contracted by Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia to

assist with the construction of OT. There were

challenging conditions from day one, requiring

an extremely steep learning curve with respect

to moving equipment and people into one of

the most remote regions in the world. Lack of

infrastructure required early and unique

planning. Redpath Mongolia was established in

the capital of Ulaanbaatar due to the need for:

a large, local workforce; local and regional

procurement and to become a tax paying

corporate citizen of Mongolia.

Redpath mobilised the first crews to the

Gobi desert to complete a bulk sample shaft

OPERATION FOCUS – Mongolia

APRIL 2011 International Mining 71

Normet delivery

Shaft #2

Main Station

for metallurgical purposes. This team was

challenged to bring with them every nut and

bolt required to execute the program.

Instructing an extremely hard working

Mongolian workforce, the job was completed

successfully with a very small expatriate

contingent. Lessons learned were used in the

planning of the 6.7 m diameter by 1,385 m

deep Shaft #1, which was in the engineering

stage during this time period.

Complex issues encountered included:

design and engineering codes; logistics of

moving the sinking equipment across the Gobi

desert, void of real roads; and fabrication of

the various plant components. The Shaft #1

sinking plant construction was completed from

ground breaking to start of shaft sinking in ten

months. Challenges with this construction

program are many, including the climatic

difficulties of sustained 125 km/h winds,

sandstorms, minus-40°C temperatures in the

winter and plus 40°C temperatures in the

summer.

Shaft #2 will be a 10m diameter by 1,400m

deep concrete-lined production shaft, designed

to hoist 25,000 t/d and equipped with a 38 t

cage for the movement of miners and large

equipment. At 3 m wide by 8.75 m long, the

cage is sized to allow fixed and mobile

equipment to be hoisted with minimal

disassembly.

Lateral development commenced from the

1300 level station in March 2008. Rogers

stresses the high quality of the underground

development work. The project started off

with “high standards in safety and quality from

day one,” he explains. Quality assurance (QA)

and quality control (QC) systems are in place to

measure all activities from ventilation to

overbreak. They also ensure regulatory

compliance in all construction and

maintenance activities. OT and Redpath have

developed engineered standards for drilling

and loading patterns as well as the installation

of services.

The QA/QC philosophy is of course very

important to the success of a block cave.

Drawing on Rio Tinto’s great experience in

caving mines, and from other major players

like Grasberg and El Teniente, there is great

confidence in OT’s attributes for caving.

The average rock strength is 100-120 MPa.

CSIRO HI Cell rock stress instrumentation is

widely used to monitor rock stress (3D stress

determination). This provides monitoring of

triaxial stress and provides a complete 3D

stress tensor from one measurement. It

features fully encapsulated electronics.

The underground characterisation drift

transects the orebody at about 1,300 m below

surface and is providing valuable information

for the geotechnical assessment and analyses.

The Hugo North Lift 1 mineralisation plunges

to the northeast. The caving shape is expected

to be nearly 2 km long by 150-300 m wide by

100-500 m high. The resource dimensions are

considered suitable for block caving.Based on

current data, a hydraulic radius of some 20-22

m is required to sustain caving of the rock

OPERATION FOCUS – Mongolia

72 International Mining APRIL 2011

AUSTMINE

A new Sandviktruck readyto gounderground

mass.

In IDP10 AmecMinproc stated:

“fragmentation for most of the Hugo North

orebody could be classified as fine to average

(80% of materials are between a fragment size

of approximately 0.3 to 0.8 m). In the context

of the proposed mining, the fragmentation

would suggest typical drawpoint spacing of

14-15 m to ensure sufficient drawpoint

interaction. Although some hang-ups and

oversize could be expected from dykes and

strong granite units, according to analysis

almost 100% should be passing 2 m2.” As

fragmentation is one of the critical parameters

for the mine design, the report recommended

that “rock block strength is defined with

higher certainty using, for example, synthetic

rock mass (SRM) techniques. Re-interpretation

of the rock block defects (such as micro-

fracturing) from the core and laboratory

samples will also improve confidence in

fragmentation analyses.”

Block cave leaderOT has commissioned AMEC to undertake the

feasibility study for Lift 1 of Hugo North. Up to

the end of 2012, AMEC will work with OT’s

engineering team to develop designs,

specifications, cost estimates and a

construction schedule for an 85,000 t/d block

cave operation.

At the time this news

was released, Matt Gili,

COO for OT said: “The

high grades of the

underground mine make

its design a crucial part

of realising the value

from the project over the

long-term, for all

stakeholders. We look

forward to working with

AMEC and its partners in

delivering this value.”

To support in the

delivery of this complex

project, AMEC has

partnered with RSV of

South Africa for shaft engineering, AC-Tek for

dynamic simulation of underground conveyors

and Analytical Laboratory Consultants for

laboratory service design.

While this engineering and mine planning

work goes on development is proceeding

apace. Lift 1 will require 45 km of pre-

production development – much of it at large

cross sections – and over 145 km of total

development. At the time IM visited the mine,

there were just two development crews,

advancing at 450 m/month.

Sandvik put the first development machines

into the mine. That fleet includedtwo LHDs – a

TORO 6 and a TORO 7, one Axera 7-240 two-

boom jumbo and one EJC 530 truck. The fleet

was complimented by a fleet of Normet utility

vehicles. The first consignment of the machines

was delivered to the site in April 2007.

Typical of the focus on safety, even at this early stage

of development there are five MineArc HRM

chambers installed underground – three 20-person

and two 12-person chambers

OPERATION FOCUS – Mongolia

APRIL 2011 International Mining 73

WEIHA HAIWANG

Sandvik made a strong service and support

undertaking at that early stage to back up the

equipment and to demonstrate its

commitment to the customer and the entire

OT project. There was also a strong emphasis

on training and trouble-shooting, especially for

the local workforce, as well as general

maintenance of the machines.

In early February 2007, a delegation from

Redpath visited the Sandvik facilities in

Tampere and Turku, Finland. Sandvik says “the

factory tours and introductions resulted in

confidence and assertiveness that Sandvik is

the right partner.”

“We work with the customer to create

solutions specific to the customer’s business.

Every assignment is a learning experience,

teaching us how to develop our services and

machines further,” said Christian Blunck, the

company’s representative in Mongolia at the

time. Since then, Sandvik has established an

office in Ulaanbaatar and Geoffry Heather has

taken over as Managing Director. Jan-Erik

Assinen, Service Technician from Finland leads

the Sandvik team on site. He and his two

Mongolian assistants work closely with the

Redpath crews to ensure the availability of

these machines, undertaking all the major

servicing of the machines.

Today, there are two jumbos, the Axera and

one Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer M2 C. There

is also a big LHD, the Sandvik LH517, a 50 t

truck, the Sandvik TH550 and a Sandvik DS-

310-26 bolter. There is one Atlas Copco cable

bolter and from Normet, two Spraymec 1050

WPCs, three Transmixers and one Charmec

1610 BE, equipped with Orica's emulsion

charging system. The Charmec has a basket

boom with lifting capacity of 500 kg and

offers a vertical working reach up to 7.4 m and

8.4 m horizontally.

Rogers, and the

operators, are all

very pleased with

the LH517 – “it

really moves the

dirt,” he says. This

is a high capacity

LHD that features a

6.5-8.6 m³ bucket

that is loaded in

one pass. Its

tramming capacity

is 17.2 t, breakout

force; lift is 343 kN

and tilt 289 kN.

However, OT is

considering purchasing LH621s in the future.

This is a monster machine with a tramming

capacity of 21 t, breakout force, lift 378 kN

and tilt 344 kN. Its bucket range (SAE 2:1) is

8.0-10.7 m³.

Rogers feels the reduced number of buckets

to muck out a round that will be possible with

the large LHD will have a significant effect on

the speed and efficiency of developing large

cross-section drifts like those for the conveyor

drive.

The next stage will be to increase the

number of development crews to four. They

will use three M2 Cs, two Axeras, an

additional three Atlas Copco Boltechs and two

more cable bolters, another TH550 truck and

two more Sandvik LH517s. The Normet fleet

will increase to four Spraymecs, five

Transmixers and three Charmecs.

The 1050 WPCs are equipped with a

hydraulic scaling system to remove loose rocks

and other materials from the walls and back of

the drifts using a high-pressure water jet.

There is a high-pressure water pump fitted on

the Spraymec carrier; maximum water flow is

50 litres/min at 470 bar. Water is taken from

the mine water lines and passes through a

filtering system on

the machine to

ensure that dirt in

the water does

not damage the

pump and/or

block the nozzle.

The scaling nozzle

is mounted on the

spraying nozzle

frame and

therefore it can be

moved the same

way as the

concrete spraying nozzle (rotation 360° and tilt

105°).

OT is leveraging its proximity to China and

purchasing as much as possible from there.

Rogers explains that the operation purchases

very good quality electrical equipment from

China, and the three batch plants all came

from Shanghai S-Couvrot in China. More

recently good suppliers of rock bolts (2.4 m

resin bolts), cable bolts and resin have been

identified.

Block caves require significant underground

infrastructure development. In addition to the

Normet fleet, Manitou is supplying five units in

2011 – one Maniaccess AJT 180, two MHT

10120s and two M50.4 Masted Trucks. Grant

Coad, Engineering Superintendent, says that

the units are standard Manitou equipment.

However, he explains, “through our Fit For

Purpose inspections and specifications we

endeavour to customise within what Manitou

can provide, this is for safety related and

production related issues. We customise the

feel of the machines so that operators have

common colour coding for common things

and use common parts, etc. Each machine has

a specific use, mainly related to the

underground work.”

Maniaccess AJT 180 is a small high lift work

platform used for small construction tasks and

repair work like light changes. MHT 10120 is

high capacity forklift type machine which can

lift people or materials to 9.5 m in height. Its

lifting capacity is 12 t, and “will do most of

our materials handling and installations in the

roof of our development,” Coad adds.

The M50.4 Masted Truck is an all-terrain

forklift for materials movement around the

shaft both on 1300 Level and at surface. IM

The second part of this article will appear

in the May issue.

OPERATION FOCUS – Mongolia

74 International Mining APRIL 2011

Normet Spraymec

underground

Mongolian mining engineers undertaking time and

motions studies