The inevitable direction in the mining industry

(Baonghean) - The mining business community in Quy Hop district has made efforts to invest in deep processing and diversify product designs, contributing to enhancing the value and brand of Quy Hop stone and tin products.

Implementing the Resolution of the District Party Congress for the 2010-2015 term in the field of industry - handicrafts, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district has concretized it by issuing the Project "Developing industry - handicrafts, craft villages and commercial services in a sustainable direction in the area for the period 2013-2015 and the following years". After 2 years of implementing the project, the production and business situation has maintained a growth rate, the average annual production value of Quy Hop district has increased by over 10%. To achieve that performance, enterprises operating in the mining sector have made efforts to overcome difficulties, pioneered in investing, innovating equipment, technology, mining processes, and deep processing.

Stone processing workshop at Phu Quy Stone Company. Photo: Huu Nghia

Phu Quy Stone and Minerals Joint Stock Company (Phu Quy Stone) clearly identifies its main product, natural stone cladding, as a strategic product, mainly products from Nghe An Marble. The unit invests in innovating equipment and processing technology, diversifying product types to meet customer needs and tastes, creating new product brands, and developing sustainably. With an investment value of tens of billions of VND in equipment, Phu Quy Stone and Minerals Joint Stock Company currently has a system of advanced machinery, equipment, and technology that can process any stone product such as: GangSaw Ytaly 80-blade cutting machine system, 2.2m large-size stone slab grinding machine; automatic slab dividing machine, 1-blade stone cutting machine; infrared stone cutting machine, edge cutting machine, beveling machine, round column making machine (CNC); 3D stone engraving machine... Currently, Phuquy Stone has 3 factories with a total capacity of 500,000 m2/year, of which 1 main factory is located in Quy Hop Town and 2 factories are located in 2 mines. Also from this bold investment in deep processing, Phuquy Stone not only provides high-end stone products for the construction materials industry, but also produces highly sophisticated fine art sculptures, which are well received by domestic and foreign customers. Mr. Nguyen Giang Hoai, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Director of Phu Quy Stone and Minerals Joint Stock Company said: The idea of ​​the enterprise will bring stone products, fine art made from Phu Quy stone to reach further by building a showroom to promote product brands, connecting manufacturers in the district with customers from all over the country.

Trung Hai Minerals and Trading Joint Stock Company is a pioneer, completely proactive in innovating superfine stone powder grinding technology with the investment in installing a line with a capacity of 60,000 tons of stone powder/year. Previously, the company specialized in block mining, and since 2013 has been processing paving stones and export stones of size 10x40. The unit realizes that only investing in deep processing can bring optimal profits and ensure sustainable development. Therefore, the company's superfine stone powder grinding line is German technology, with Japan as a joint venture with the investor, ensuring the most advanced technology, because the product has a fineness of up to 40 microns (currently stone powder only reaches >50 microns). Mr. Nguyen Trung Hai, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, said: Currently, the company is investing in building a factory, striving to have the line officially produce products by early 2016 as planned.

In addition to the two pioneering enterprises in this field, other stone mining and processing enterprises in Quy Hop district have basically innovated mining and processing technology. On-site mining has gradually replaced the manual method of drilling with explosives to separate stones at the mine, using drills and cutting stones with diamond wires, ensuring that the mined stones are intact and taking advantage of resources. Regarding stone processing facilities, Quy Hop currently has 150 workshops (120 workshops of enterprises, 30 workshops of individual households), all of which have specific solutions for investing in technological innovation, thus contributing to improving production and business efficiency. Innovation in the technological lines of the facilities mainly involves installing winch systems for transporting stones, sawing machines, grinding and polishing machines of different sizes... Some enterprises have invested in large-size automatic grinding and polishing machines; sawing and polishing machines for round columns, 3D digital carving machines... such as Phu Quy Stone Company. Regarding the processing of superfine stone, there are 6 facilities with a total capacity of 12,000 tons/year, closed processes from the raw material supply system, grinding system, packaging system... In the field of stone mining and processing industry, although compared to the target of the Congress Resolution, the encouraging signals in the innovation of technology in both mining and processing have shown positive signs in the coming time.

Tin mining and refining units are also really concerned about investing in innovation in the stages: mining, ore selection and refining. Ore selection technology using water guns to select and wash, using automatic vibrating tables to recover tin ore is highly effective. In open-pit mining, some enterprises have invested in winch systems, motorized pulley transport for soil and rock transportation for ore selection, ensuring safety for workers. Regarding the refining processing system, enterprises have invested in building 4 more smelters, increasing the total tin refining capacity from 2,000 tons/year to 4,000 tons of tin ingots/year. However, the reality is that tin smelting technology in the district is still mainly from China, the refined products meet export standards, but the export value is not high, still much lower than some countries with refined tin products. According to experts, this is because the current tin refining technology in the area is not the most advanced, and is in the form of "processing" when some countries import our tin ingots to refine them to create products of much higher value (?). This also directly affects the tin export output from 2012 to now, which has increased insignificantly, fluctuating from 1,255 tons to 1,530 tons, only reaching 40% of the processing capacity of existing production lines and the export turnover value is also not high. Therefore, quickly innovating processing technology to thereby increase the value of refined tin ingot products to the highest level is a very urgent issue for Quy Hop in the near future.

Comrade Vo Thi Minh Sinh, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district affirmed: In order for the local mineral mining industry to develop sustainably, improve economic efficiency, and create high export value, in the coming time, the district will review, consolidate, and work with enterprises to upgrade small and medium-sized stone and mineral processing facilities... For refined tin products, the district is proposing the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Provincial People's Committee to research, apply, and transfer the best technological advances to enterprises in the area.

Hong Son