Fire now extinguished – no injuries reported – no affect to production schedule
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (ot.mn) – Shortly after 10pm last night a fire broke out at the emulsion plant of the Oyu Tolgoi mine. The emulsion plant is where explosives are prepared for the open pit mine. No injuries have been reported and all staff have been accounted for. The fire is out, and the damage was confined to the roof of the building.
The Oyu Tolgoi Emergency Response Team (ERT), as well as the Oyu Tolgoi Security Group, responded quickly and secured the area. They are now inside the building. There were no people in the plant at the time of the fire. Ensuring the safety of all employees and contractors is the first priority of everyone at Oyu Tolgoi.
The plant location is more than 5km from the living quarters at the mine, in an isolated area of the mine site. Given that explosives are routinely handled in this area, the plant is surrounded by a high earth embankment.
The ERT has established a 2.5km perimeter around the plant. Nobody is permitted to approach the site until deemed safe to do so. There is not believed to be any risk of explosion, but the ERT is proceeding cautiously and continuously evaluating the situation.
An investigation is underway to identify the source of the fire.
It is not anticipated that there will be any impact on the production schedule.
Note to Editors:
The major explosive used at the Oyu Tolgoi open pit operations is ANFO – Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil. The explosive is prepared by combining fuel oil and fertiliser (ammonium nitrate). Individually the components are relatively benign. However, when combined they form a strong explosive that is widely used in the global mining industry. It is estimated that ANFO accounts for more than 80 per cent of the explosives used in the United States of America. The work of preparing explosives for the mine is done by highly trained experts. High levels of security and safety are used around the emulsion plant.
About Oyu Tolgoi LLC (www.ot.mn)
Oyu Tolgoi LLC is Mongolia's largest copper and gold mining company and is a strategic partnership between the Government of Mongolia (34 per cent stake), Ivanhoe Mines (66 per cent) and Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto is the major shareholder in Ivanhoe Mines and the manager of Oyu Tolgoi. In addition to dividends from its 34 per cent stake in Oyu Tolgoi, the Government of Mongolia will receive taxes and royalties.
Oyu Tolgoi, located in the Gobi desert in southern Mongolia, will be one of the largest and highest-grade copper and gold mines in the world. It is the largest project ever developed in Mongolia, requiring a capital investment for Phase one of more than US$6 billion.
Oyu Tolgoi is committed to contributing to a sustainable future for Mongolia. At least 9 out of 10 employees will be Mongolian once the mine is in production and Oyu Tolgoi is investing US$58 million dollars (78 billion MNT) in training and education and an additional US$27 million dollars (36 billion MNT) in the Workforce Employment Project designed to help address the general skills shortage in Mongolia
Oyu Tolgoi's key priorities are the health and safety of employees, best-practice environmental management, contributing to sustainable communities and always doing business with integrity, for the benefit of all the project's shareholders and the people of Mongolia.
For more information, connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.