Fluorite concentration plant held its opening ceremony on October 2. The plant is established by Mongolchekhmetal LLC and is located in Bayantsagaan soum of Tuv Province. Mongolia ranks fourth in the world in terms of fluorite reserves. Therefore, Mongolchekhmetal LLC stated that it intends to move from mining to processing and to exporting value-added products.
The company has been producing fluorite since 1982 and produces 25,000 to 30,000 tons of metallurgical concentrate per year and exports more than 80,000 tons of low-grade ore to Russia and China. The company’s Chuluut Tsagaan Del mine has been exploited since 1981, and it is estimated that it has reserves of 3.7 million tons or about 20 years. Construction of the plant started in 2020.
The raw material of the plant is a pile of ore that has been accumulated for many years, which will now be processed. Therefore, in addition to extracting the concentrate, it is possible to mix fine sand, which is a dry waste, with a small amount of coal and produce building bricks and blocks at the next stage.
The Chairman of the Standing Committee on Industrialization Policy emphasized that the process of mineral raw materials is in line with the state and government policies for the development of industry, as well as its importance for the development of local communities and the livelihood of citizens and families.
The concentration plant has the capacity to process 200,000 tons of ore and produce 64,000 tons of fluorite concentrate with a grade of more than 97 percent. The Chuluut Tsagaan Del mine has 3.7 million tons of fluorspar with a grade of 43 percent, and because of the mining carried out since 2013, 400,000 tons of ore with a grade of 30 to 35 percent has been accumulated. China’s Xinhai Group was responsible for the technology, equipment, and testing of the plant for flotation of crushed and powdered ore.
To concentrate one kg of ore in the plant, 3.3 liters of water will be used, and a recirculation reservoir has been established to reuse 86 percent of the used water. It is also possible to use the dry waste from the factory as a raw material for building materials. Currently, Mongolia exports 100,000 tons of fluorite per year, and the company states that once the concentration plant starts operating at full capacity, this figure will increase by 60 percent. The fluorite concentrate will be exported from November. More than 280 people are working in the mine and concentrator in Chuluut Tsagaan Del, of whom about 100 are local citizens.
