Mongolia MiningMetals-Copper and Molybdenum Production in MongoliaMongolia is among top three producer of copper and Molybdenum in Asia and Pacific region. The leading mining operation in Mongolia-Erdenet is joint venture of Russian and Mongolian government. Erdenet mining output totaled more than 27 million metric tons per year of ore resulted more than 130,000 metric tons of copper and 1,500 tons of molybdenum. Erdenet mining along earns more than half of Mongolian foreign exchange and provides 25% of government revenues. In 2001 the Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold deposit discovered. It is estimated that to contain an indicated resource of 509 million tons grading 0.40% copper and 0.59 grams/t gold, containing 2.06 million tons of copper. The resource base remains open for expansion as exploration continues. In addition to this there are several other mining projects going on; including Ivanhoe Mining of Canada, Rio Tinto of United Kingdom, Erdene Gold Inc of Canada, Xstrata Copper of Australia, Falconbridge of Canada, Solomon Resource of Canada and Bayan Erch mining of Mongolia. Currently, the Bayan Erch started its exploration and its first molybdenum concentrate export shipment is delivered. The estimated capacity of its molybdenum concentrate (Mo 47-49%, Cu to 1.5%, As 0.05-0.1%) production is 100,000 kg per year. Coal Production in MongoliaMongolia's annual coal production is about 5 million metric tons mostly used for steam and electricity generation. Mongolia estimated to have potential coal reserve of some 100 billion metric tons. Most of these reserve proven but have not been developed due to lack of infrastructure. Currently there are approximately 40 coal deposits being mined in Mongolia. Following are some examples: The Tavan Tolgoi deposit in south Gobi 90km east of Dalanzadgad of OmnoGobi Province contains over 5 billion metric tons of coking and hard coal, however it is located 400km away from nearest rail-line. The Baga-Nuur deposit is located 110 km east of Ulaanbaatar (capital city of Mongolia) and has been mined since 1978. The deposit is linked to the Transmongolian railroad through the railroad branch. The Mongolrostsvetmet Mining Corp operates two mining and has an annual production of up to 250 thousand tons coal. The Mongolian Alt Corp. carries out coal mining activities on the Alagtogoo's high calorie stone coal deposit in Dalanjargalan of Dornogobi province. It supplies customers like Power Plant of Darkan city, Erdenet ore dressing Plant and Khutul Cementand Lime Factory. Currently developing new project called Eldev with reserve of 51 million tons coal.The Ivanhoe Mines Ltd has traced unusual thick seam of high quality coal from the adjacent Nariin Sukhait Mine onto property controlled by Ivanhoe in Southern Mongolia, approximately 40km north of Mongolia-China border. The Ereen Mine Ltd located Southern Gobi also mines coal. Current coal production is mixture of Anthracite coal and Coal. Current production of Ereen Mine is 30,000mt tons per month. This Anthracite coal is mixed with regular coal and mostly used in iron steel and power generaltion market. The Baruun Naran mining has much larger deposit than neiboring Tavan Tolgoi mine. There is also Nariin Sukhait mine located west of Baruun Naran. This mine has been sold into China. (Barlow Jonker-unpublished report, 2006) Type of Coals around the world vs. coal from MongoliaThe classification of coal is generally based on the content of volatiles. However, the exact classification varies between countries. According to the German classification, coal is classified as follows:[3]
The middle six grades in the table represent a progressive transition from the English-language sub-bituminous to bituminous coal, while the last class is an approximate equivalent to anthracite, but more inclusive (the U.S. anthracite has < 6% volatiles). Typical Coal from Mongolia Mines have following specifications:Anthracite coal from Mongolia shown here (from Central Geological Lab Test on coal sample submitted on Apr 4, 2008): Gross calorific value (on dry basis):5,000 - 8,000 kcal/kg minimum Total moisture (on dry basis):2% - 16% maximum Ash content (on dry basis):3%-5% maximum Volatile matter (on dry basis):40%- 47% maximum Sulfur content (on dry basis):0.8% maximum P (on dry basis):0.05%. If you look at the Volatile of this particular coal from Mongolia, it is almost same as Flame Coal from the above chart. But if you look at its Calorific value (heat content) then it is same as Anthracite coal of the above chart. Current Mongolian exported coals are sold on a raw basis in China due to its inability to process it further. However, coals from Tavan Tolgoi and Nariin Sukhait are able to compete with Chinese coking coals both on price and quality. Market Outlook of Mongolian Coal Mongolia is a developing country compare to its two neighboring countries China and Russia. Its total energy consumtion is about 2.2 Mtoe (Million tonnes of oil equivalent) per year. China along consumes about 1,200 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalant) per year vs. Russia about 650Mtoe per year. (Barlow Jankler - unpublished report, 2006). Chinese coal market is the largest in the world in terms of both production and consumption. In 2005 China produced in more than 2,100 million tonnes (Mt) of coal doubling coal production from USA and almost 10 times production of Australia (China Statistics Bureau) China is also world's largest coal consumer, with coal accounting for ~70% of its total energy requirement. 50% of it about 1,000 million Mt was used for power generation, 340 Mt used for coke making (mainly consumed by metallurical industries) and remaining in other industries and residential use. ( China statistics Bureau; Barlow Jonker - unpublished report, 2006) In 2005 China's coal export totaled 71.6 Mt, with coal imports at 26.1 Mt, of which 2.5Mt or nearly 10% came from Mongolia. ( China Custom Data) There is currently around 150 GW of coal-fired power generation capacity in the northern part of China, which including Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, northern Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxai and Gansu provinces. Their combined coal burn is estimated at over 350Mtpa (Barlow Jonker - unpublished report, 2006). China's coal and iron ore resources are mainly concentrated in the northern part of the country. Most of iron and steel production capacity is also located in this region. Coal production cost is the lowest in for the shallow coal mining of Mongolia compare to global mines. However, it counter-balances with high transport costs. Interested to purchase coal from Mongolia? Visit here.
Related Articles What is a Molybdenum and who needs it? Want to Buy Molybdenum Concentrate from Mongolia? Want to Buy Raw Mixed Anthracite Coal from Mongolia? References: http://www.mbendi.com Mongolia Mining 3. Eberhard Lindner; Chemie für Ingenieure; Lindner Verlag Karlsruhe, S. 258 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal http://www.qgxgold.com Return from Mongolia Mining to Mongolia Economy. Return from Mongolia Mining to Canada Mongolia Connection.
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