Than Quang Hanh's efforts to overcome difficulties

The results of Quang Hanh Coal's annual geological survey show that many mines are facing abnormal geological conditions: sandwiched rock, pillar rock, closed seams, unexpected geological faults, thin and unstable coal layers. There are mines that are in the middle of exploitation and encounter floating pillars, which are areas where the hard limestone layer is in between, making it impossible to continue mining, forcing the entire equipment to be removed and moved to another area.

Not only that, the mine is located in an area with many layers of high-pressure water. Some production areas had to stop mining to treat the seepage water, which took a lot of time and effort. This made the preparation of the new longwall even more difficult, unable to be carried out in the usual "rolling" manner as in mines with stable conditions.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, Deputy Director of Quang Hanh Coal Company - TKV said: In previous years, the unit's transfer rate was 17-20 times/year, but in recent years, the transfer rate has increased to 28-30 times/year, leading to increased production costs, reduced coal quality, and difficulty attracting workers.

Annual exploration results indicate the specific geological difficulties of Quang Hanh Coal.

Not accepting to go backwards in the Group's production lineup, Than Quang Hanh has looked straight at its difficulties and limitations to find solutions. "The mine's outstanding problem is that the transition time is too much and too long during the year, affecting production progress. The longwall mining areas have limited routes, making transition inevitable, but how to shorten the transition time and increase the actual production time is a must to find ways to improve" - ​​Mr. Tuan further analyzed.

The turning point of Quang Hanh Coal came at the end of 2024, when the company decided to establish the Underground Service Workshop. This is a specialized unit in charge of the transfer of the area, organized systematically to ensure that when the old longwall is finished, the new area is ready. Organizing production in a specialized layered manner has created a flexible chain of links, the mining workshop only focuses on coal withdrawal, while the transfer work with a series of complex items from recovery, transportation, equipment installation, and support is carried out synchronously and in-depth.

At the end of 2024, Quang Hanh Coal established a specialized Underground Service Workshop in charge of site conversion work.

To ensure all conditions for the new furnace to operate immediately after the old furnace is finished, the Mine Service Workshop is divided into 3 continuous production shifts. Thanks to that, the mining workshops are prepared to continuously support each other, and there is no longer a situation of production interruption as before.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuong, Manager of the Underground Service Workshop, Quang Hanh Coal Company - TKV said: In the first quarter of 2025 alone, the Underground Service Workshop has completed many key items: Recovering 136 ZRY supports at -150/-120, transporting and installing 34 ZH1600 supports at -130/-110, completing the conveyor belt to put the new longwall of the deep mining system at -175/-300 into operation - on schedule assigned by the company. Thanks to that, the company's total output in the first quarter reached 25.2% of the yearly plan, much higher than the 22-23% level often seen in many previous years.

After only a short time of operation, the Underground Service Workshop has demonstrated its capacity. The greatest and most obvious effect is the output from Quang Hanh Coal's longwalls. For example, at Mining Workshop 7, all production indicators exceeded the plan. Productivity with ZH technology reached 5.2 tons/workforce, exceeding the plan by 4.2 tons/workforce; with ZRY technology, it maintained the level of 5 tons/workforce.

In the first quarter of 2025, the company's raw coal output delivered to the workshop was 189,500 tons, an increase of about 10% over the same period last year. Previously, this target would have been very difficult to achieve when the biggest obstacle was the long transition period. But in the first quarter of this year, the unit made a remarkable breakthrough, with 38% of the output plan. Workers' income reached nearly 19 million VND/month, and life was gradually improved.

"We are currently performing an average of 1-2 transfers per month, meaning that there are expected to be 22 transfers per year. Without a specialized unit, the transfer work can easily be interrupted, affecting the entire company's production," said Mr. Tran Minh Tuan, Manager of Exploitation Workshop 7, Quang Hanh Coal Company - TKV.

Miners of Mining Workshop 7 demonstrate their determination to produce safely during shift changeover.

Thus, the difficult problem has been solved for Quang Hanh Coal. In 2025, Quang Hanh Coal was assigned by TKV to produce 1 million tons of raw coal and 19,400 meters of tunnel. Although these targets are not high compared to other units, Quang Hanh Coal will have to complete them in very harsh geological conditions: Many areas with closed seams, exposed pillars, faults, and the number of times of switching will still be high. With a new breakthrough and a tight production organization plan, Quang Hanh Coal is expecting to complete 60-65% of the yearly plan by the end of the second quarter, creating the necessary reserves to overcome the third quarter - the rainy season and peak switching season.

Hoang Yen

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/no-luc-vuot-kho-cua-than-quang-hanh-3356943.html