At the current exploitation rate, cement producers in the province will run out of on-the-spot material sources in just over 10 years.
Hoang Thach Vicem Cement One Member Co., Ltd. annually consumes about 4.2 million tons of stone and 1.5 million tons of clay and additives
Remaining materials enough for only over 10 years
Limestone for regional cement production mainly located in Kinh Mon district, along the banks of Da Bach and Kinh Thay rivers, stretching from Bach Dang commune (Kinh Mon) to Dong Trieu district (Quang Ninh) with a length of over 40 km, according to the General Department of Geology’s survey in 2001. In Hai Duong province, limestone created a series of mountains.
Limestone has been exploited to be used as raw materials for cement production since 1971. Large mountains, such as Han, Ang Dau, Ang Rong, Nham Duong, Duyen Linh, and Van Chanh, have been explored for cement production.
The total reserves of cement limestone searched and surveyed on Hai Duong mountains amounted to about 165 million tons: Ang Dau 43 million tons, Han 40 million tons, Ang Rong 32 million tons, Nham Duong 39 million tons, Duyen Linh 6 million tons, Van Chanh 5 million tons, etc. The remaining mountains were small or yet to be studied.
Having three cement production lines with a total capacity of 3.5 million tons/ year, Hoang Thach Vicem Cement One Member Co., Ltd. was licensed to mine on an area of 384 ha in 1979 and 1995 by the Government. The company has been mining at the mines of Ang Dau, Ang Rong, G6, and G7.
Thanh Cong Co., Ltd. with a capacity of 0.46 million tons/ year has been permitted to mine at Ngang mountain in Duy Tan commune with over 9 million tons of reserves.
Phu Tan Co., Ltd. with a capacity of 0.35 million tons/ year has been allowed to quarry stone at Kim Tra mountain in Tan Dan commune and Yen Ngua mountain in Duy Tan commune with 1 million tons of total reserves.
Besides, there are facilities producing cement by small capacity vertical furnace with 0.7 million tons of total output per year.
Most of the mountains with cement stone emerging on the ground have been granted to cement producers, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The enterprises’ lines have operated at full capacity since 2010.
Each ton of cement requires more than 1.2 tons of limestone. Thus, cement producing enterprises annually use up about over 6 million tons of cement limestone. At this production rate, the cement producers can only maintain the production in around 13 years before running out of on-the-spot materials.
Cement clay and additives are also necessary for cement production; nonetheless, there remain only about 15 million tons of cement clay source, 5 million tons of chert, 2.5 million tons of clay shale, 0.5 million tons of sandstone and quartzite, etc. while cement producing units annually need 1.5 million tons of cement clay and additives for cement production. Hence, the material sources are merely enough for the production in the next 15 years.
The more and more exhausted material sources for cement production are now a worrying problem of cement producers in the province because many cement lines have just gone into operation at full capacity since 2010. The production is expected to be maintained within 50 years in all of the units’ development planning and cement production projects.
Solutions
For the past 10 years, Hoang Thach company has implemented many material-saving solutions, such as mixing soil materials right at the mines and utilizing limestone with over 5% of MgO content to blend with stone rich in CaCO3.
High quality limestone that can be used for cement production was found inside the mines allocated to several units for constructional stone production. The company has bought the stone source to mix with lower quality materials to produce cement. This not only saves the company’s existing material source but also helps the friend units’ minerals be processed into higher-end products, contributing to improving the overall value of the minerals.
The company has also realized the topic of replacing part of claystone material with coal xit (the outer part of a coal seam).
In addition, the company has proposed the province and relevant ministries and branches to allow it to mine down tens of meters under mountain hearts and, at the same time strictly made deposits for rehabilitating the exploited environment.
The units currently being allowed to mine in the area should strictly observe the regulations on mineral management and seriously exploit resources without causing wastefulness, rehabilitate the environment, and report to management agencies.
Inter-sector forces should closely coordinate with each other when granting exploitation licenses, inspecting, and supervising enterprises’ mineral mining activities.
TRAN TUAN
Đăng ký: VietNam News
