Turquoise Hill Resources has announced that Shaft 2 construction at the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine is complete and has entered into the final stages of commissioning. Oyu Tolgoi is jointly owned by the Government of Mongolia (34%) and Turquoise Hill Resources (66%, of which Rio Tinto owns 51%).

Shaft 2 is a 10 m diameter shaft sunk to approximately 1.3 km below the surface. This is a critical piece of infrastructure that will accelerate the underground development of the world class Oyu Tolgoi mine.

The shaft uses the world’s largest production hoist motor and can carry 300 people in the service hoist and lift 60 t skips in the production hoist. When operating at maximum capacity, the production hoist has the ability to lift 35,000 t of material to the surface daily.

With the construction of Shaft 2 complete, and the service hoist operating permit being granted, the service hoist now allows the mine to transport 300 people per cage cycle versus a maximum of 60 people per cage cycle through Shaft 1. The 48 t capacity cage can now be used to support logistics, transporting supplies and components for development of the mine.

Commissioning of the production hoist continues with over 2,700 t of rock successfully hoisted to surface, and Turquoise Hill continues to work with the regulatory agencies to finalise the permitting.

“The completion of the construction of Shaft 2 is a significant milestone in the underground development of the world class Oyu Tolgoi mine. Shaft 2 was constructed using almost 5,000 tonnes of steel and over 300 km of electrical cabling. Importantly, the shaft was sunk and constructed with a predominantly Mongolian workforce, developing specialised skills and demonstrating the capability of the local work force. We look forward to utilising this major increase in capacity to accelerate our underground development,” said Ulf Quellmann, Chief Executive Officer of Turquoise Hill.