Danieli interested in mining Thach Khe iron ore deposit
The trans-national Danieli Group has expressed interest in mining iron ore in Vietnam, part of the firm’s ongoing partnership strategy with the country’s steel industry.
Franco Alzetta, executive vice president of Danieli, last week said Danieli was ready to take part in Vietnam’s largest mining project, the Thach Khe iron deposit in the central province of Hectare Tinh, once it received approval from the government.
“Vietnam’s iron deposits are known world wide, and foreign mining giants have expressed interests in them. Mining at these deposits has good prospects in the context that world prices of raw materials used in the steel-making industry are forecast to rise in the decade ahead,” he said.
A few years ago, mining projects in Vietnam were unfeasible and unattractive due to the huge investment necessary and the low world prices of ore. But now, Alzetta said, “it is time for Vietnam to make vigorous progress on these mining projects”.
In order to cut down the huge amounts of investments required to mine iron ore, the Vietnamese government should allow foreign investors to step in, he said.
According to the Ministry of Industry (Mol), a pre-feasibility study to mine Thach Khe deposit thought to be the country’s largest iron ore reserve -and then build a 4.5 million tonne hot rolled coil (HRC) steel complex nearby will Vietnam’s iron deposits are known world wide, and foreign mining giants have recently expressed interests in them be delivered to the government for approval in June. State-owned Vietnam Steel Corp is the developer of both projects.
The Thach Khe deposit was discovered by Soviet and Vietnamese geologists in the 1960s. Experts estimated that the deposits had iron ore reserves of some 500600 million tonnes, at least 300 million tonnes of which is currently thought to be commercially exploitable.
According to the study, the mining component of the project will require around US$180 million, while construction of the HRC steel complex will cost up to US$3 billion -a considerable sum for Vietnam to fund alone.
Danieli Group specialises in designing, manufacturing and installing competitive plants and equipment for the global steel industry. The firm has been consolidating and strengthening its cooperation with the Vietnamese steel industry for over a decade. In the last three-years, Danieli has been awarded six major projects in Vietnam, all of which have helped make the country’s steel industry one of the most competitive in the region.
The firm has invested US$250 million in the local steel industry, including hot-and cold-rolling facilities and turnkey projects creating flat-and long-steel products.
Danieli’s major projects in Vietnam include Hoa Phat and Song Da in Hanoi, SSE in Hai Phong Tisco in northern province of Thai Nguyen, Phu My cold-roiling mill complex and Phu My mini-mill in Ba Ria -Vung Tau province.
Category: ResourceAsia
