The world’s largest undeveloped copper deposit, which also turns out to include significant deposits of gold and silver, is located in the Gobi of Mongolia at a site called Oyu Tolgoi, which means "Turquoise Hill". The Oyu Tolgoi site is the signature feature of Ivanhoe Mine’s flagship project.
The concentrator’s quickly evolving shape is a barometer of the pace of the full-scale construction now underway on what will be one of the world’s largest copper, gold and silver mining complexes. The concentrator initially will process 100,000t of ore each day mined from the open pit, increasing to up to 160,000t a day when ore from the underground mine is added in 2015. During the first 10 years of production, the complex will produce a projected average of 1.2 billion pounds of copper, 650,000 ounces of gold and three million ounces of silver every year.
Challenges / critical issues
High wind load: Wind speed in the Gobi desert can reach up to 200 km/h. Doors need to withstand the wind loads of hurricanes.
Cold weather: Winter temperature in the Gobi desert can reach as low as -40° C. All building facilities and equipment must perform at extremely low temperatures.
Excessively dusty condition: The dust and sand in Gobi desert makes the building difficult to keep clean. The workshop needs to stay clean for equipment / truck repairs and maintenance.
No immediate service: Immediate service is difficult to achieve in the deep desert. All facilities need to be reliable and stable. Highly reliable equipment with low service and maintenance needs help to keep downtime to a minimum.
Megadoor provided the following:
- One Megadoor S800 in lube storage, 4,000mm x 4,000mm
- One Megadoor S800 in welding and machine shop, 4,500mm x 4,500mm
- Two Megadoor S1000 in wash bay, 5,000mm x 5,000mm
- Two Megadoor S1500 in welding and tire shop, 8,000mm x 8,500mm
- 12 Megadoor S1500 in truck shop, 12,000mm x 10,600mm
- Seven Megadoor S800 in mineral processing workshop, various sizes
- Nine Megadoor S1000 in mineral processing workshop, various sizes
- Locally based services, design assistance, technical advice and installation
- Translucent fabric to allow more natural light into the building, which improved the working environment
- On time delivery and installation
- After sales assistance and a maintenance contract, undertaken by locally based technicians
Thanks to the reliable operation of a Megadoor system, more than 50 doors have been ordered for the Oyu Tolgoi site.