On March 13, Mongolia announced to have built the world's fourth largest mine. This mega project, started on a solitary steppe, has expanded into a site employing 20 thousand people. A decade ago, there were speculations whether it was right or wrong, profitable or unprofitable to mine the wealth beneath the southern Gobi soil, now we can conclude that this debate has been irreversibly resolved. In fact, implementation of any mega project is a very scrupulous endeavor. Opening of the underground mine has clearly demonstrated that the Mongolians in cooperation with specialists of 44 countries around the world succeeded to implement this mega project within a short period of time

MONGOLIAN YOUTH AND WORLD KNOWHOW

The Mongolians, constituting 97 percent of the total 20 thousand workforce, have managed to get used to instructions and knowhow of foreign specialists within a very short time. The ability to compete with the mines of the world and show off the intelligence and skills of Mongolian people is the biggest benefit from this project. In the "Rio Tinto" group operating in 35 countries around the world, 100 young Mongolians are working at the level of management, engineering and technology on a par with world experts. These young people are the assets that will carry the mega projects in the future. In addition, thousands of young Mongolians are in[1]volved in the day-to-day operations of the "Oyutolgoi" project.

The size and scale of the facilities they built are enormous. In a steppe without any infrastructure, they have built a mining complex with the latest technology of the world, thus gaining required experience. They used 62,000 tons of concrete and 23,000 tons of steel to build the concentrator plant alone, three times more than what was used for construction of the Eiffel Tower.

During the construction phase, six million cubic meters of earth was transported for mining operations, and 550 km long cable, enough to reach Ulaanbaatar, was used. Calculations implied that the amount of cement used for the construction of the concentration plant was sufficient for erecting 346 nine-story buildings with four entrances. These numbers suggest how much hard work was involved. It is a matter of pride that this construction was made possible thanks to strength and intelligence of Mongolians. They also built an underground town 1,300 meters below the earth surface, including underground mine, rescue facilities, and shelters.

to be continued......

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