Lao Cai removes difficulties in raw materials for mineral processing enterprises

Lao Cai is one of the localities with the largest mineral reserves in the country. In recent years, the mining and processing industry has become an important economic sector, contributing over 60% of the province's industrial production value, creating stable jobs for tens of thousands of workers. However, in the new context, mining and mineral processing activities face many difficulties, requiring timely solutions to ensure raw materials for factories and maintain industrial growth.

Currently, there are 23 licensed mining projects in the province, including 12 apatite mines, 3 copper mines, 4 iron mines, 2 graphite mines, 1 serpentine mine and 1 hot mineral water project. However, only about 13 projects are operating stably; the rest are either suspended or facing problems in site clearance, legal procedures or financial difficulties.

In the field of apatite mining - an important raw material for fertilizer, chemical and metallurgical production - the shortage of type III ore is increasingly evident. Apatite Vietnam Company Limited expects to produce about 1 million tons of selected ore in 2025, only reaching 73% of the design capacity. From 2026 onwards, the supply of type III apatite is estimated to be about 3 million tons/year short, directly threatening the operations of the processing plants in Tang Loong and Cam Duong.

Mr. Dang Tien Duc, Deputy Director of Duc Giang Lao Cai Chemical Company Limited, said: The factory's products serve 70% of domestic demand, the rest is for export. To ensure enough ore raw materials to serve the production of more than 210 thousand tons of fertilizers of all kinds from now until the end of 2025, Duc Giang Lao Cai Chemical Company Limited has a solution to import apatite ore from abroad.

Mr. Dang Tien Duc, Deputy Director of Duc Giang Lao Cai Chemical One Member Co., Ltd. said: The company's difficulty in recent times is the lack of raw materials for production. The company has overcome this by importing ore from Egypt to produce to compensate for the shortage. From now until the end of the year, we plan to import 50,000 tons of grade 1 Apatite ore each month."

Not only apatite, many copper and iron projects are also facing the risk of stagnation. Mr. Doan Vu Long, Deputy Director of Lao Cai Copper Smelting Branch, said: Mining output at Sin Quyen copper mine has decreased, causing the supply of ore concentrate to the two factories at Lao Cai Copper Smelting Branch to also decrease by about 25%. To maintain production activities, the unit will have to buy an additional 50 thousand tons of ore from outside. Due to long-distance transportation, production costs will increase, significantly affecting the production and business targets of the factory.

Mr. Doan Vu Long, Deputy Director of Lao Cai Copper Smelting Branch informed: Faced with the difficulty of raw materials from Sin Quyen mine, we had to buy more copper concentrate from Nui Phao mine to compensate; using imported concentrate mixed with the concentrate in use to achieve economic and technical targets. Diversifying raw material sources and using flexible blending can meet production needs.

Without timely solutions, many businesses may have to cut production, affecting the supply chain of raw materials for the chemical, fertilizer, and metallurgical industries in the area.

Through review, most projects have encountered difficulties in site clearance. For example, at Khai Truong 19 (Apatit Vietnam Company), dozens of households have disputed land and have not agreed on the compensation plan, causing the project to stagnate since the end of 2024.

At Cam Duong 2 Mine, about 2.9 hectares of land had been cleared before but people were still cultivating it and had not yet handed it over; an additional 7.3 hectares of land overlapped with another project whose exploitation period had expired but had not yet been reclaimed.

Similarly, at Coc 1 Mine, Ngoi Dum - Dong Ho Mine or Mine 32 (Lang Cang 2), many households refused to receive compensation, demanded more resettlement land, or sued the enterprise and the government. Prolonged disputes and lawsuits slowed down the land handover progress, directly affecting the production plan.

Notably, in some projects, the land clearance documents were carried out many years ago but were incomplete in terms of coordinates, and land management was not strict, leading to encroachment and re-cultivation. This caused businesses to have to worry about production and spend a lot of time and money on dispute resolution, causing great financial pressure.

Specifically, the Provincial People's Committee has organized meetings and direct dialogues with businesses, thereby promptly grasping difficulties and directing departments, branches and localities to coordinate in handling them. Many directive documents have been issued, such as Official Dispatch No. 1572/UBND-KTN dated May 14, 2025 on reviewing planning, ensuring reasonable mining licensing; Official Dispatch No. 1854/UBND-KT dated June 2, 2025 on accelerating the appraisal and approval of land procedures, creating clean land funds for businesses; or Official Dispatch No. 2099/UBND-CN dated June 20, 2025 on strengthening coordination in site clearance for mineral exploitation and deep processing projects.

In the land clearance work, the Provincial People's Committee directed localities to proactively establish working groups, directly go to the grassroots to mobilize, propagate, and create consensus among the people. Many localities have achieved positive results, typically Bao Thang commune has handed over more than 50 hectares of clean land to enterprises to implement metallurgical plant and deep processing zone projects. Van Ban commune completed the clearance of over 30 hectares of land to serve the expansion of the mine, ensuring the progress of handover to investors.

In particular, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha signed Decision 934/QD-TTg on adding areas not subject to auction of mineral exploitation rights under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment in Bat Xat and Lao Cai city (old). This is a condition for mineral deep processing factories to ensure production plans in 2025.

Removing difficulties for mineral exploitation enterprises, especially units supplying raw materials to production plants, plays a key role in ensuring stable production, contributing to bringing the province's industrial production value to the 80,000 billion VND mark by 2025.

In 2025, Sin Quyen Copper Mine was granted the right to exploit 1.5 million tons of copper ore - the main source of raw materials for 2 copper smelters in the area. However, the exploitation process encountered problems with site clearance and land lease procedures for 21 hectares south of the mine. In this situation, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Committee inspected and assigned departments, branches and localities to coordinate to promptly resolve the issue.

Mr. Tran Trong Quynh, Director of Sin Quyen Copper Mine Branch, Lao Cai said: With the support of the province and locality, we have been handed over 15.6 hectares for exploitation, and the remaining 5.4 hectares are being surveyed for land lease. In 2025, we strive to contribute over 700 billion VND to the budget.

The Provincial People's Committee also assigned the Department of Industry and Trade to review and balance raw material sources, connect supply and demand between mines and factories; the Department of Finance and the Tax Department to coordinate in extending and restructuring financial obligations, creating liquidity conditions for projects facing capital difficulties; encourage businesses to apply selection and processing technology to increase ore utilization efficiency and reduce dependence on raw material sources.

With the support and determination of authorities at all levels, it has significantly contributed to removing difficulties for businesses. Thereby, many mineral exploitation and processing projects have been basically resolved, in the following period, only compensation prices will be applied to hand over the site. This has positively contributed to the socio-economic growth of the province.

Lao Cai's mining industry plays a key role in the province's economic structure, but also faces the need for sustainable development, a harmony between resource exploitation and environmental protection. Removing difficulties in raw materials for processing enterprises not only aims to maintain industrial growth, but also contributes to stabilizing jobs for nearly 15,000 workers, ensuring budget revenue and creating motivation for the development of supporting industries.

In the coming time, with the strong direction of the Provincial People's Committee, the consensus of the people and the efforts of enterprises, Lao Cai hopes to gradually solve the "bottleneck" of raw materials, creating a foundation for the mining and mineral processing industry to develop stably and long-term.

Presented by HOANG THU

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/lao-cai-thao-go-kho-khan-ve-nguyen-lieu-cho-cac-doanh-nghiep-che-bien-khoang-san-post882452.html