Vietnam’s mining industry holds great potential for development, with diverse mineral resources, including 5,000 mining sites and 60 types of minerals such as coal, bauxite, apatite, titanium, and rare earths, according to Mr. Ben Wong, General Director of Informa Markets Vietnam, at the opening ceremony of the 6th International Exhibition on Mining, Minerals, and Construction Technologies in Vietnam – Mining Vietnam 2024, which took place from April 24-26, 2024, at the National Exhibition Construction Center (NECC) in Hanoi.
According to Ms. Annie Tran, Senior Project Manager of Mining Vietnam, Vietnam is considered a country with diverse mineral resources, possessing more than 5,000 mining sites of 60 types of minerals such as coal, bauxite, apatite, titanium, and rare earths.
With a mining history of nearly 180 years, the Vietnamese coal industry has long become the main mining industry to ensure the national energy security. In addition, with a reserve of up to 5.8 million tons, Vietnam’s bauxite reserves have positioned it as the country with the second-largest bauxite potential globally.
In recent years, Vietnam has issued many policies to promote the participation of enterprises in the exploitation, processing of minerals, and production of building materials for sustainable development, reducing energy and power consumption.
Prominent policies include the auction of mineral exploitation rights, the amended Law on Environmental Protection, and the Plan for Exploration, Exploitation, Processing, and Use of Minerals as Building Materials for the 2021–2030 period with a vision to 2050. These policies clearly state the goal of transforming the mineral exploitation and processing industry into a modern one with applications of science and technology. These policies also aim to promote equipment innovation to produce products with high added value, contributing to the industry’s overall green development.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Phan Xuan Thuy, Deputy General Director of Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin), said that the coal industry is the core business of the Group. Vinacomin has 21 member companies in underground and open-pit mining. Currently, Vinacomin’s annual coal production reaches over 40 million tons.
Vinacomin’s strategic goal is to become a strong state-owned corporation, establishing a brand and competitiveness regionally and globally. It aims for a reasonable business structure, sustainable development alongside environmental protection, contributing to ensuring national energy security, and promoting economic sectors and localities throughout the country.
To realize this goal, Vinacomin identifies that along with restructuring corporate governance, the Group focuses on technological restructuring by increasing investment and application of digital technologies and scientific and technological advancements. This is to modernize, automate, and intelligentize mining technology, thus enhancing productivity, and increasing production and business efficiency.
Vinacomin’s open-pit and underground mines have been and are applying many modern and advanced mining technologies globally, especially synchronized mechanization systems and automation in the stages of tunneling, mining, ventilation, gas control, and mine drainage, etc. The percentage of coal mined using synchronized mechanical systems is increasing, and the percentage of coal loss during mining is decreasing, which increases production and business efficiency and saves resources.
For open-pit mines, Vinacomin has been investing in synchronized equipment, from large-diameter drilling machines, hydraulic excavators, to large-capacity trucks with a payload of up to 130 tons, to enhance excavation and transportation capacity. It constantly innovates blasting technologies and connects mining systems to create large-capacity open-pit mining sites and gradually mechanize transportation.
In the coming period, Vinacomin will conduct exploration on over 1.0 million drilling meters, invest in new projects and maintain production of over 70 coal mining projects to exploit stable coal output of 36–40 million tons per year. The total capital demand for exploration and coal production development of Vinacomin is about 90 trillion VND.
In addition to coal, which is its core business, Vinacomin has developed the mining industry by focusing on deep processing and enhancing added value and economic efficiency. The Group has invested in a series of modern nonferrous metal processing plants, including copper, lead, zinc, tin, steel, chromite, and other metals.
Mining Vietnam 2024 gathers over 200 exhibiting enterprises from many developed countries in the mining industry, aiming to be an effective business bridge between domestic and international enterprises. It introduces the most advanced technologies and modern machinery and equipment to serve the Vietnamese and regional markets.
Mr. Thuy affirmed that the exhibition will contribute to promoting the transfer and development of new technologies and new solutions in the mining sector, as well as expanding cooperative relationships between enterprises and experts in the industry. It contributes to the sustainable development of the mining industry based on the circular economy, minimizing environmental impact, and actively contributing to Vietnam’s socio-economic development.
The CEO of Informa Markets Vietnam also stated that Vietnam is one of the countries with the largest mineral reserves in Southeast Asia, with great potential for coal, bauxite, chromite, titanium, iron, and rare earth.
