What's new

Saindak Project Smeltery resumes production of copper

ghazi52

PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
Joined
Mar 21, 2007
Messages
103,045
Reaction score
106
Country
Pakistan
Location
United States
Saindak Project smeltery resumes production of copper after lockdown

July 15, 2020



BEIJING, July 15 (APP):After lockdown for 10 months, smeltery of Saindak Project, Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd. (MCC), has resumed and produced the first batch of crude copper on July 13th, a manager of the project said.
The smeltery is a core part of whole project. The first batch of crude copper produced means that Saindak Project resumes complete flow scheme of beneficiation, mining, and smelting while preventing and controlling epidemic, China Economic Net (CEN) reported here on Wednesday.

Impacted by winter vacations and COVID-19 pandemic, the Pakistani staff couldn’t get full salary due to the smeltery locked since November 2019.
“The livelihood of Pakistani personnel is facing crisis, and such a situation will threaten the regional security, prosperity and stability,” the manager said.
On June 6, a total of 68 Chinese staff arrived Saindak, Balochistan province and started a 14-days mandatory qurantine.

Meanwhile, Pakistani personnel were gathered in another isolated site nearby Saindak project to prepare for resuming smelting.
During observational period, both Pakistani and Chinese staff strictly complied with each term of stipulation and measure so that their health could be protected from COVID-19.
On June 22, the personnel finished isolation and taken nucleic acid testing on June 28. Though the staff was released from isolation, the smeltery couldn’t resume immediately because there were several issues left to cope with. Due to the long-term lockdown, apparatus and machines in Saindak smeltery needs a complete overhaul.
Hence, technical staff discussed and drew up a plan for resuming production in detail, including controlling pandemic, overhauling devices, personnel training, and igniting furnace.
At 8:06 am on July 9, the smeltery of MCC Saindak Project was reignited after it had been shut down for nearly 10 months. At 11:39 PM on July 13, the smeltery produced its first batch of crude copper this year.
 
.
Trial production at the Saindak Copper-Gold project started in 1995 with commitment of funding from the Government of Pakistan. The four-month trial operation had a monthly production rate of 1700 tonnes of copper, 6000 oz of gold, 12000 oz. of silver. A 50 MW power plant was constructed at Saindak with aid grants from Germany and France. German and French aid grants and the Balochistan government also funded the bulk water supply system of 32,000 tonnes of daily drinking water, water treatment plant, warehouse, workshops, laboratories, storage, airport and railroad link with ECO Highway. The Balochistan government also invested funds in building a township with schools, hospitals, shopping plazas, streets, lighting and water pipelines for over 2000 residents.

After the construction of the infrastructure and the trial run, the project was to be operated by Saindak Metals Ltd, a company owned by the Pakistan government. The federal government was to provide funding for operations of the mine through Saindak Metals. Proceeds from the mine were then to be split between the provincial government of Balochistan and the federal government of Pakistan. However, the PKR 17 Billion required to start operations were not received due to political wrangling and bureaucratic delays.[1] As a result, after the 1995 trial run, the project faltered for a number of years. The Federal Cabinet of Pakistan on September 26, 2017 approved five years extension of the lease contract of Saindak Copper Gold project to Chinese firm, reports Dispatch News Desk (DND) News Agency. The existing lease agreement term would expire on October 31, 2017. Now Chinese firm will continue to work till October 30, 2022.

As per the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package, the federal government agreed to transfer a majority of its holdings in Saindak Metals Ltd to the provincial government. The Balochistan government would then receive 35% of the proceeds from the mine. However, this transfer of shares was stalled when the federal government demanded that Saindak Metals first repay PKR 29 Billion to the federal government which the government had invested in Saindak Metals. The company repaid PKR 6 billion to the federal government but then ran out of funds. So it offered the federal government an additional 20% stake in the company (for another 10% of proceeds from the mine) in lieu of the remaining loan amount. However, the Pakistan government has refused to transfer the shares in the company to the Balochistan government.

Another cause for concern for the provincial government has been over mining of resources from Saindak. With MCC mining more ore from the mine than originally estimated, Balochistan was concerned that there would be fewer years of life in the mine once it receives ownership.

Mine

The Saindak mine was estimated to have ore reserves of 412 million tonnes containing on average 0.5 gram of gold per ton and 1.5 grams of silver per ton. According to official estimates, the project has the capacity to produce 15,800 ton of blister copper annually, containing 1.5 ton of gold and 2.8 ton of silver.
 
.
110016240_2884400085021004_5517175479392675851_o.jpg




109432986_2884400151687664_1731854639593110282_o.jpg




107799438_2884400241687655_8110786209497216483_o.jpg
 
.
Why no Pakistan company is doing it... Pakistan mining corporation used to be a functioning corporation before democracy struck Pakistan.
 
.

Country Latest Posts

Back
Top Bottom