Copper production at the country’s largest mine

During the April 30-May 1 holidays, officials and workers at the Sin Quyen copper complex and the Tang Loong copper smelting factory in the northern province of Lao Cai have still been on duty to manufacture and provide tonnes of 99.9% purity copper for electrical appliance production factories across the country.

Before going into the mine, miners must undergo careful work safety checks.
Before going into the mine, miners must undergo careful work safety checks.

According to the leaders of the two units, to ensure the dual goal of pandemic fight and business production, the Sin Quyen copper complex has applied technical and management solutions to exploit more than 2.2 million tonnes of crude ore, refining more than 68,000 tonnes of copper concentrates (25% purity copper) to provide to the Tang Loong copper smelting factory.

The copper production complex in Lao Cai is the largest of its kind in Vietnam and the only one in Southeast Asia that extracts, refines and intensively processes ores into copper metal on the spot with a large output. This complex ensures jobs for more than 1,500 workers, with an average monthly income of more than VND10 million, contributing over VND600 billion (US$25.9 million) to the State budget.

Miners conduct drilling to exploit ore.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 2

Taking copper ore from deep underground.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 3

Copper ore is brought to the surface on wagons.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 4

The ore is transported to the sorting factory and put into the fine grinding mill.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 5

The grinded mixture is then sorted by flotation, followed with ore enrichment.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 6

Copper concentrates (25% purity) are put into warehouses to provide to the copper smelting plant.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 7

Concentrates are melted in a furnace.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 8

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 9

They are then molded into each anode plate and put into the electrolysis tank to produce copper cathodes.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 10

Copper cathodes are removed from the electrolysis tank.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 11

They are cleaned before packaging.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 12

Workers pack the copper metal (99.95% purity) into blocks with a weight of one tonne each.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 13

They are then put into storage.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 14

The KCS department checks the products for the last time.

Copper production at the country’s largest mine ảnh 15

Copper products are being loaded to be sold to customers.

The Lao Cai copper smelting factory is the only factory producing copper metal from ore mined on the spot in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.