Stone plate mining made new progress

As of December 14th, the Preliminary Design for the Deep Mining Project of the 4-8 Group in the Shangqing Mining Area of Tonghua Group's Banshi Mining Co., Ltd. — prepared by Chinagall North — has successfully passed the expert review organized by Tonggang Mining Co., Ltd. This marks a significant step forward in the company’s deep mining strategy. Notably, the No. 17 and No. 18 ore groups have discovered new resource reserves, and the design for underground mining of the No. 17 group has officially begun.

In response to the growing demand and the current gap in ore supply, Tonghua Iron and Steel Group's Banshi Mining Company has initiated deep mining operations in the Shangqing area and started underground mining in certain sections of the Baumenyuan Mining Area. The deep mining project at the 4-8 coal mines in the Shangqing area uses an innovative joint exploration and mining approach without the traditional sub-column sublevel caving method. The planned annual production capacity is 2.85 million tons, including 2.35 million tons from mines 4 to 6 and 500,000 tons from mines 7 to 8.

According to the latest Production and Exploration Report for the Underground Mines of the Panshigou Iron Mine in Baishan City, Jilin Province, the No. 17 ore group in the Baumenyuan Mining Area has added 198.7 million tons of new reserves, while the No. 18 ore group in the Guqianyuan Mining Area has seen an increase of 6.9976 million tons. Based on preliminary assessments, the production capacity of the No. 17 group could be doubled from the current 250,000 tons per year to 500,000 tons, and the service life of the No. 18 group, currently operating at 800,000 tons per year, could be significantly extended.

The completion of these projects is expected to ensure stable and continuous production at Banshi Mining, gradually increase output, reduce capital investment, and improve resource utilization. These developments are crucial for enhancing the self-sufficiency of iron ore raw materials within the Tonghua Group and strengthening the competitiveness of its products in the market.