Article: From political science scholar to driver at the mine

People of different occupations work at Oyu Tolgoi mine. Most of them are mining professionals, but there are also quite a few people of very different professional background. We’ve met with one of them. His name is Enkhjargal Saikhantsetseg. He works as heavy machinery operator at Oyu Tolgoi open pit mine. He is a brave young man of 28. He is married to S.Byambasuren who works at Golomt bank. They have two pretty girls. The oldest is six and studies in the Russian primary school, the youngest is only 3 three months old.

S.Enkhjargal graduated from ‘Talst’ secondary school in Bayankhongor in 2004 and began studies at the Mongolian National University. He graduated four years later with degree in political science. But there were no jobs available for newly graduated specialists. Some of his classmates went on to become a bag governor or a journalist. Something similar also happened to S.Enkhjargal. For two years he undertook private business to make a living. It wasn’t very successful but at this time, he heard that Oyu Tolgoi LLC had announced a scholarship programme called ‘Educated people – Mongolia’s wealth’ and decided to apply. His mother, who worked as secondary school teacher of Russian and English, supported his decision and told him to be persistent to reach his goal. Oyu Tolgoi scholarship qualification requirements are high but certainly not unpassable for a university graduate with a higher education degree.

Afterwards he was selected at the top of over 300 applicants and went to study for one year at the School of Technology named after Sh.Otgonbileg in Erdenet where he mastered the profession of heavy machinery operator. S.Enkhjargal says that winning this national scholarship was a rare personal chance for him. Oyu Tolgoi provides all tuition and accommodation fees, expenses for travel to and from countryside as well as monthly stipend of 200,000 MNT for all scholarship students. Theoretical lessons in class are reinforced by practical training at the Erdenet mine. The 25 May 2011 was one the most memorable days in his life. On that day, S.Enkhjargal first set foot at Oyu Tolgoi mine. Thus, a young political science scholar became a driver at the mine. After a further month of training, just before Naadam festival he became full member of the open pit workforce. A young man from the Khongor region now drives a gigantic Komatsu 930E truck making his own contribution to the largest development project in Mongolia this century.

He says that he is very happy with his fate. He does not regret, but rather is proud that he switched his profession from political science scholar to driver of this giant machine. The truck which he is driving loads 290 tonnes of ore and with its own weight, the total weight comes to over 500 tonnes. This powerful equipment is truly a giant. Despite its enormous size, Komatsu is soundproofed and equipped with various safety devices such as rear camera. It is a smart vehicle. It also sounds an alarm every time it experiences any malfunction. The open pit driver praises his vehicle by saying that such a large vehicle is not available anywhere else in Asia.

Currently there are over 20 Komatsu 930E' trucks working at Oyu Tolgoi’s open pit mine. The ore loading equipment for such a large machine is also gigantic. The 100 ton electric excavators can fill Komatsu with just three loads of their buckets. S.Enkhjargal works 28 days at the mine and then has 14 days off. He works both day and night shifts during these 28 working days. He also plays basketball and volleyball in his spare time. His team won the mine’s volleyball championship for the last two years. His accomodation is comfortable, food tasty, salary high and even his laundry is done by service employees, so he has no worries and can focus on his work.

In one shift, he takes about twenty loads of ore. Every run carries on the average some 250 tonnes of ore, making a total of 5,000 tonnes during his shift. Therefore, 28 gigantic Komatsu dump trucks carry 140 thousand tons of ore each shift. The Oyu Tolgoi concentrator has a capacity to process 100-110 thousand tonnes of ore per day. Therefore, in any situation, Komatsu trucks will not leave the concentrator without raw materials. Twenty four of his classmates who graduated from the Technology school in 2011 now also work at Oyu Tolgoi. They are the first heavy machinery operators at the mine and today they are proudly participating in the creation of a miracle in the South Gobi .