How do you transform a desert coal mine into an award-winning oasis?
The Ukhaa Khudag coal mine lies in one of the harshest climate zones on the planet: the southern Gobi desert. In the winter, its pipelines and coal tailings dams would freeze. In the summer, much of its water would evaporate. Faced with these extreme conditions, the mine needed the most robust equipment available to conserve and reuse water from its tailings.
Eight ANDRITZ SEPARATION belt presses, including everything from flocculants to conveyor belts, were commissioned to solve the mine’s challenges. Despite the immense logistic obstacles of the remote location, all deliveries were executed on schedule.
How to transform a desert coal mine into an award-winning oasis?
Thanks to its increased process water recovery, the new plant now achieves water savings of up to 3.12 million cubic meters per year, along with a 15% reduction in downtime, amounting to at least 1,000 additional hours of operation per year.
Ultimately, it all came down to choosing the most economical solution with the best technical performance – an achievement confirmed when the project was awarded the prize for Best Technology of 2013 in the Mining Journal Awards.
