Thousands of people from all corners of Mongolia are working at Oyu Tolgoi in the South Gobi. One of them is S.Ganbold. He works at the Environment department at Oyu Tolgoi LLC. Although his birthplace is Bulgan soum in Dornod aimag, he currently lives and works in Khanbogd soum in the South Gobi. He started his career serving as a border guard about 40 km away from Oyu Tolgoi and prior to that, worked as a driving instructor for almost 20 years. In 2002, he retired and then joined the Environment department of Oyu Tolgoi. He has been working in this department for almost 10 years. He monitors and measures over 260 wells and water points within a 100 km radius of the mine. He works to a schedule and measures all the wells and water points at exactly same time each month. For example, if the first water well is measured on 8th of a given month, the well is measured again at exactly the same time next month. The measurements of water wells and boreholes started in 2003 when the first exploration and monitoring boreholes were drilled. Ganbold said all monitoring data of the wells and borehole is kept in a special file.
S.Ganbold said: “I worked as a driving instructor for 20 years so I only gained a basic understanding of water monitoring after joining Oyu Tolgoi. I provide data and information to the mine every two hours and maintain regular communications through out the day. The vehicle is equipped with a GPS device, so all data, for example, the vehicle location and speed, is transmitted in minute detail. Also information such as when the vehicle has stopped and for how long is recorded.”
At each visit 2-3 types of measurements are recorded. The data is used to monitor any changes in the water levels and qualitative changes in the wells and boreholes. Basic and advanced laboratory tests are done on water quality.
S.Ganbold invited me to his home and introduced me to his family. His wife served in the military and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. One of his daughters works at Oyu Tolgoi. His wife P.Chuluun said: “When we first arrived here, we built a fence around our home on an empty steppe. I told my husband that there will a time come when our soum will have many residents. Since the spring of 2012, the number of people in Khanbogd soum has increased and many young people and families have moved here. A new street has been built to the north of our fence. Young families are building their homes on the empty land. I can see that living standards in our soum have been improving.” In Khanbogd every household has a family member employed by Oyu Tolgoi. S.Ganbold said that, “life in Khanbogd soum starts at 4:30am. Young people are working very hard. If our whole country, every aimag and soum worked like this, we would develop very quickly. Our Environment department was set up in 2006. Initially there was only a staff of four, now there are about 60 Oyu Tolgoi and contracted employees and two international specialists working in the department. I’m happy to work with young people with so much knowledge and competence. The Gobi area has very good water. People think of the Gobi as a sandy desert. However, the Gobi is home to many plants and animals. Gobi people value their water and try to utilise it carefully.”
Oyu Tolgoi is a world-class mine being developed in the South Gobi through the efforts of thousands of ordinary people like S.Ganbold.
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