GCR Mongolia, a joint venture between Gobi Infrastructure Partners and RUC Mining, says it has reached a depth of 1,000 m on Shaft #4 at the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia.

On the achievement, RUC Mining said: ­“This achievement is a testament to the unwavering dedication and efforts of our exceptional shaft sinking project team.”

Back in 2018, GCR Mongolia was awarded a contract to design, construct and commission the sinking and lining of Shaft #3 and #4 and build the stage one material handling system at the copper-gold underground project.

The shaft sinking aspect for these ventilation shafts involves blind sinking and concrete lining of the two shafts, while the material handling system will require the installation of 9 km of conveyors able to transport ore to surface at 6,500 t/h. Shaft #4 was planned to be sunk to a depth of 1,200 m with a finished diameter of 11 m.