Vietnam to Tap Largest Iron Ore Deposit Late 2007

The Thach Khe iron ore deposit mining project, the largest of its kind in Vietnam, is scheduled to start late this year, delayed from earlier plans to begin May 19, Dau Tu (Investment) Newspaper reports.

 

The Ministry of Industry asked Vietnam Steel Corp. to work with Russia’s Giproruda Institute to finish the project’s feasibility study by October this year.

 

The Thach Khe mining project in central Ha Tinh province is estimated to cost as much as $400 million.

 

Recently, Thach Khe Steel Joint Stock Company, with total chartered capital of VND2.4 trillion ($150 million), was set up by nine founders to tap the iron ore mine and build a steel refinery nearby, a fast track to reach national steel self-sufficiency.

 

The founders are Vietnam Coal and Mining Industries Group (Vinacomin) contributing 30 per cent of total capital, Ha Tinh Mining and Trading Company (Mitraco) 24 per cent, Vietnam Steel Corp. 20 per cent, Vietnam Posts and & Telecommunications Group (VNPT) 4 per cent, Song Da Corporation 5 per cent, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) 5 per cent, Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) 5 per cent, Binh Minh Import-Export Co. Ltd. 4 per cent and Thang Long Minerals & Metallurgy Joint Stock Company 3 per cent.

 

Last year, the government approved foreign investor involvement in building Ha Tinh steel refinery, at an estimated cost of $3.5 billion under the wholly foreign-owned investment form, as a result of domestic firms’ capital handicaps and limited mining technologies.

 

Former Soviet and Vietnamese geologists discovered the ore in 1960s with estimated 500-600-million ton ore reserve; at least 300 million tons are thought to be commercially exploitable. (Investment, Vietnam Panorama)