Ha Tinh requests approval to merge the Thach Khe Iron Mine Area Management Board

The Thach Khe Iron Mine Management Board currently does not meet the conditions for establishment. From 2011 to now, when the Government Office announced the Prime Minister's Conclusion on the temporary suspension of Thach Khe Iron Mine, the Management Board has had almost no activities, so Ha Tinh province has proposed to merge this unit into the Department of Industry and Trade to streamline the apparatus.

Báo Công an Nhân dân•14/05/2025

On May 13, Vice Chairman of Ha Tinh Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Hong Linh signed Document No. 2994/UBND-NC2 to send to the Prime Minister to request approval to merge the Thach Khe Iron Mine Area Management Board into the Center for Industrial Promotion and Trade Promotion (under the Department of Industry and Trade of Ha Tinh).

According to the proposal of Ha Tinh province, in 2024, the Thach Khe Iron Mine Management Board was assigned by the competent authority 6 civil servant positions with regular expenditures guaranteed by the State budget and 2 labor contracts. Comparing the provisions of Decree No. 120/2020/ND-CP3, the Thach Khe Iron Mine Management Board has not yet met the conditions for establishment.

Ha Tinh requests approval to merge the Thach Khe Iron Mine Area Management Board -0 — At the Thach Khe iron mine project construction site (September 2010).

Since 2011, after the Government Office issued Notice No. 164/TB-VPCP dated July 11, 2011 on the Prime Minister's Conclusion at the Government Standing Committee meeting on restructuring Thach Khe Iron Joint Stock Company, the owner of the Thach Khe Iron Ore Mining and Selection Project (Thach Khe Iron Joint Stock Company - abbreviated as TIC) has stopped stripping the Thach Khe Iron Mine's cover layer.

Since the date of Notice No. 164/TB-VPCP, TIC has basically not carried out any field work in the mine area (except for some work serving the preparation of adjustment projects and the implementation of construction management and land areas that have been handed over for land lease), so the tasks and powers of the Thach Khe Iron Mine Area Management Board have basically not arisen.

Regarding the implementation of the compensation, site clearance (GPMB) and resettlement support project for the Thach Khe iron mine exploitation project, although the construction of the GPMB and resettlement roadmap has been agreed upon and approved by the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province in Decision No. 1358/QD-UBND dated May 15, 2013, it has not been implemented, mainly due to lack of implementation capital and outstanding debt of completed volume.

TIC has not seriously implemented Decision No. 37/2012/QD-UBND of the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province, especially in the work of capital allocation. Although the Management Board of Thach Khe Iron Mine Area has repeatedly urged the allocation of capital for implementation, TIC has not provided enough capital for implementation, leading to some areas of land acquisition and resettlement projects being unable to be implemented or being unfinished and having to be "frozen" since then. According to Ha Tinh province, up to now, the roadmap for land acquisition and resettlement is no longer meaningful and has no applicable value.

The Thach Khe Iron Mine Management Board is a public service unit under the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province, so the reorganization and dissolution are under the authority of the Prime Minister. Realizing that the merger of the Thach Khe Iron Mine Management Board into the Center for Industrial Promotion and Trade Promotion under the Department of Industry and Trade is necessary, in line with the policy of the Central and local governments on streamlining and improving operational efficiency, Ha Tinh province has asked for the Prime Minister's opinion.

The Thach Khe iron mine project is located in 5 communes of Thach Ha district including: Thach Hai, Thach Khe, Dinh Ban, Thach Tri and Thach Lac, currently these communes have all been merged into Ha Tinh city. The project has reserves and mining resources of 554 million tons, total land use area of 4,821 hectares, including 3,898 hectares inland and 923 hectares reclaimed from the sea, with a total investment of 14,517.2 billion VND.

Regarding the Thach Khe iron ore mine project, Ha Tinh province has sent many documents requesting the Politburo, the Government, the Prime Minister and central ministries and branches to promptly consider terminating the Thach Khe iron ore mining and selection project. Meanwhile, the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (TKV) has also sent many documents requesting the Government to allow it to restart the Thach Khe iron ore mining and selection project.

However, the fate of the Thach Khe Iron Mine project, whether it will stop or continue operating, has yet to be decided.