Resuscitate the exploitation of ever biggest Thach Khe iron mine: Selection and exchange

An excellent report

The project for exploiting and processing iron ore at Thach Khe iron mine invested by Thach Khe Iron Joint-Stock Company (TIC) was first approved in 2008 with an investment capital of more than VND9,932 billion and total land area of 3,898ha. The project was revised with the investment capital of more than VND14,517 billion and total land area of 4,821ha.

Based on the TIC’s explanation report, Thach Khe iron mine has a large reserve of 544 million tons, accounting for nearly 60% of the country's reserves. High iron content in ore and low stripping ratio (1.76m3 per ton) will reduce production costs. The payback period is about 9.5 years.

At the conference "Appraisal on project for exploiting and processing iron ore at Thach Khe iron mine" in Hanoi on 25 July, Nguyen Quoc Hung, TIC’s general director said: "If Thach Khe iron mine project is deployed, it will contribute a huge amount to the State’s budget (VND1,200 billion in phase I and VND2,400 billion in phase II)".

In addition, the project will bring many economic and social profits. Specifically, it will ensure the stable and long-term supply of raw materials for domestic metallurgical plants to reduce the import of iron ores and billets from overseas. Job opportunities will be directly offered to more than 3,490 employees, etc..

Selection and exchange?

At the conference, Prof. Ph.D Dang Trung Thuan, Chairman of Vietam Association for Geochemistry, said that TIC’s report on socio-economic profits of the Thach Khe iron mine project has some unreasonable contents.

Thuan informed that previously, the world’s big minerals mining corporations Mitsubishi (Japan), Croup (Germany)... participated in the assessment of Thach Khe iron mine; however, they abandoned when finding it infeasible.

Thuan raised a question that while the aforementioned corporations with advanced technologies abandoned the project, TIC, inferior to technology, is determined to exploit it. Meanwhile, the mining activities in Thach Khe iron mine not only face difficulties due to complicated geological and hydrological conditions but also cause many unpredictable impacts on the environment and society.

Specifically, one of the serious impacts on the environment due to exploitation of Thach Khe iron mine is the formation of Vietnam's largest tailing landfills in the coastal zone in Ha Tinh. This will cause trouble of sand dust in the dry season and sand flows in the rainy season, imbalance of interaction between the sea and the coastal zone… he explained.

In addition, the exploitation of Thach Khe iron mine also has an impact on thousands of households in Thach Ha district, Ha Tinh province.

At the conference, Bui Thi An, Member of the 13th National Assembly, said that compensation, and resettlement for the Thach Khe iron mine project had been approved. Accordingly, each farming household will be given 300m2 of land for building house only. What farmers can do without agricultural land for farming and raising livestock, An questioned.

Therefore, An said that economic profits and impacts on the environment and society should be seriously considered before resuming the exploitation of Thach Khe iron mine.