At 10.0 m in diameter and 1,284 m deep, The Redpath Group along with Hasu Megawatt, through their joint venture company, Dayan Contract Mining, has reached the bottom of the Number 2 shaft at the massive Oyu Tolgoi mine in the south Gobi Desert.

Dayan Contract Mining (DCM) blasted the last bench January 13, 2018 after a lengthy shaftsinking program that endured a number of prolonged work shutdowns at the project. Turquoise Hill Resources Project Director, Michel Charron, stated that the milestone was “made all the more impressive by the exceptional safety performance.” Oyu Tolgoi’s 2 shaft is a combined skipping and service shaft which will support the early development and extraction activities at the South Hugo Dummett block cave mine.

Situated in the south Gobi Desert, DCM employed approximately 200 Mongolian nationals to make up 75% of the shaft workforce in order to complete the impressive construction project. In addition to shaft sinking efforts, nearly 135,000 cubic metres of mass excavation has been completed in order to support the high tonnage installations yet to be completed.

The Dayan team is currently focusing on the installation of the 7.2 m diameter production friction hoist and 6.75 m diameter service hoist installation atop the concrete headframe, concurrent with shaft outfitting efforts. Once complete, this installation will be one of the largest of its kind in the world, capable of hoisting 30,000 t/d in rock, and transporting people and supplies via the 24.3 square metre service cage.