Quang Tri Provincial Leadership Delegation Works with Phonesack Group (Laos)

Kaleum coal mine (Sekong province) is the largest open-pit coal mine in Laos with reserves of about 800 million tons, an annual output of millions of tons, most of which is exported to the Vietnamese market through La Lay international border gate, Quang Tri province... To exploit this huge coal reserve, a lot of labor and vehicles were brought to Kaleum.

The delegation and Phonesack representatives visited the coal processing system - Photo: TH

Currently, the coal mine has about 1,500 workers, office staff, experts... working, at peak times up to 3,000 workers. In the period 2017-2023, 4.5 million tons were exploited. From 2024 onwards, 20-25 million tons will be exported each year. Many Vietnamese enterprises are major partners of the mine...

With a huge amount of coal, the only way to transport it to Vietnam is through La Lay international border gate, 128 km from the mine, then to the central seaports such as Hon La port, Thuan An port, Chan May port. Route 75D from La Lay international border gate to Ho Chi Minh road, 12 km long in Quang Tri province, is deteriorating, reducing the efficiency of coal trucks.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Long Hai learns about the coal mining and transportation process - Photo: TH

The road through the new La Lay international border gate has the capacity to transport 13,000 tons of coal per day (about 500 vehicles per day), which is a very small number compared to the mining capacity of the Kaleum coal mine.

Currently, Phonesack Group and its partners have considered building a conveyor system from Laos to Vietnam to transport coal. The conveyor belt is expected to be 6.3 km long. The conveyor belt capacity is about 6,000 tons/hour. Vietnam and Laos will build warehouses and coal yards with a scale of tens of hectares, gradually removing the bottleneck in coal export transportation capacity.

Through a site visit and listening to the report of Phonesack Group, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Long Hai highly appreciated the potential and reserves of Kaleum coal mine and welcomed the promotion of coal import and export by road through Quang Tri province's border gates. Sharing the current difficulties in road infrastructure, Quang Tri province is recommending that central ministries, branches and the Government pay attention to investing in upgrading road infrastructure to serve the transportation of goods, including coal.

The province is particularly interested in the project of building a conveyor system to transport coal from Laos to Vietnam across the border, which has been approved by the Vietnamese Government and issued a resolution for implementation. The project of conveyor belt to transport coal from Laos to Vietnam through La Lay international border gate, when put into operation, will create a new economic and social growth pole, and be a driving force for businesses to invest in production and business in the western region of the province.

To promote transportation, the province is currently actively directing investors and related units to accelerate the progress of the My Thuy Deep-water Port project, striving to put two berths into operation by the end of 2025, meeting the demand for large-scale transportation to the sea, in order to shorten time and reduce costs to create socio-economic efficiency for both sides.

Currently, the province and investors are promoting the construction of the Lao Bao - Cam Lo expressway in Quang Tri province and investing in upgrading the road connecting Ban Dong (Sepon district, Savannakhet province) with Ta Oi district, Salavan province, which will create more directions for development and transport of goods through the Lao Bao international border gate, Quang Tri province.

At the same time, it is recommended that Phonesack Group continue to pay attention and work with the province to build Highway 15D from La Lay international border gate to My Thuy deep-water port to better meet the demand for coal transportation.

Ta Hung

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/doan-dai-bieu-lanh-dao-tinh-quang-tri-lam-viec-voi-tap-doan-phonesack-lao-193478.htm