After nearly two years of arduous construction, at the beginning of 2022, Hongda Blasting Engineering Group Co., Ltd. successfully exposed the coal seam for the first section of the open-pit mine project in the Thar Coalfield I block of Pakistan. Hongda Blasting, as the construction unit of the first section, successfully completed the project. The most important milestone in the construction period of the coal mine in Block Ⅰ is a good step and a good start for the new year.

The key node is of great significance

A total of 3 coal seams exist in Block I of the Taer Coalfield, and the three coal layers are divided into A coal, B coal and C coal from top to bottom. The coal seam exposed this time is the upper A coal seam. The disclosure of coal seam A also means that the infrastructure construction period is coming to an end, laying a solid foundation for the normal supply of coal for the power plant in the future. The power plant will start generating electricity and be integrated into the Pakistan energy network.

A coal seam exposed

The owner issues a major milestone node completion gift for the project

The coal-electricity integration project in Block I of the Thar Coalfield in Pakistan is a key project in the energy field of the country's Belt and Road Initiative, and it is also a key energy cooperation project promoted by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. It includes a lignite coal mine with an annual output of 7.8 million tons and a 2X660MW pithead coal-fired power station. After the commercial operation of the project, it can meet the electricity demand of nearly 4 million local households, effectively alleviate the power shortage in Pakistan, and stimulate the economic development of the Thar region, which is of great significance .

A bird's-eye view of the mining area (on the right is a bidding section in charge of Hongda Blasting)

To face difficulties and overcome obstacles

The project began preparations at the end of 2019. As soon as the construction started, it encountered the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, and the Pakistani military imposed strict restrictions on the project construction due to the security situation. The project was not able to achieve 24-hour continuous construction in the early stage. During this period, the project department rose to the challenge and overcame the difficulties. It built a Pakistani living camp that could accommodate more than 900 people and built a new isolation camp that could accommodate 150 people. Logistics support and normalized epidemic prevention should be handled with both hands, and both hands must be hard, so as to be fully prepared for the subsequent 24-hour continuous production. The hard work pays off. After full communication with the Pakistani military and the continuous efforts and coordination of all parties, 24-hour continuous production was finally achieved in June 2020. The production and operation of the project department began to be on track, and the monthly output increased month by month. , until November to achieve a monthly stripping volume of 6.4 million m³, creating a single-month stripping production record in the Thar region.

The completed Pakistani living camp

Closed container isolation camp

The continuation of the epidemic has greatly hindered the normal production and operation of the project department. The flight was interrupted, and the Chinese personnel could not arrive on time. The recruitment of Pakistani employees was difficult, the turnover rate increased, and new employees could not be replenished in time, resulting in a shortage of on-site personnel. Under the correct leadership of Hongda Blast, the project department quickly responded to the requirements of epidemic prevention and control, and strictly implemented various prevention and control measures; actively purchased epidemic prevention materials and living materials; vaccinated all employees of China and Pakistan; held regular epidemic prevention drills; stabilized all employees mood. On the other hand, in response to the shortage of people, we will increase recruitment efforts, and actively contact employees who have previously left their jobs due to their own reasons to see if they are willing to return to the project department, shorten the recruitment cycle, and work closely after the expiration of the last batch of quarantined personnel. Then arrange for the next batch of personnel to enter the site for testing and isolation, and reserve Pakistani personnel according to the excess ratio; employees who are conscientious and responsible for stable work, talk to and persuade employees who intend to leave, and take care of employees with family difficulties. During the period, the wife of a Pakistani manager suddenly suffered from cancer. After the project manager learned about it, he sent condolences to him on behalf of the project department and arranged for him to take paid leave to take care of his wife. This move was widely praised among Pakistani employees. With the efforts of all staff in the project department, the problem of personnel shortage has been solved, and the turnover rate has also been significantly reduced. At present, the project department has a total of 54 Chinese employees and 1,034 Pakistani employees, with sufficient personnel reserves.

Pre-work meeting for Pakistani employees

With the advancement of the production progress, the drawdown of the mining area is also gradually increasing. The project department exposed the first aquifer in advance in December 2020 at a position higher than the expected level, and the water output was relatively large. However, the unit responsible for dewatering had not built a dewatering well, and the water in the aquifer could not be discharged in time. As a result, the workable space for construction has become smaller and smaller, and the deepening work cannot be continued. The project department will face stoppages several times, which will seriously affect the progress of the project. In the face of such severe difficulties and challenges, all the staff of the project department give full play to the great people. The work attitude of daring to work hard, trying every means to drain the water, making weekly plans or even daily plans, using sub-regional centralized drainage, excavating annular ditches to guide water and blocking lateral supply water, paving hard materials to form temporary roads and sub-regional mining Materials above the water surface, and digging down to the maximum extent to make the water in the lower layer pour out as soon as possible, etc., take 2-4 meters as a small layer, and gradually descend to the depth. With this method, the water gushing from the aquifer is gradually drained, and the deepening work can finally continue. The attitude of the project department in the face of the crisis and the method of drainage and depth provided by the project have been fully affirmed and highly praised by the owner, and it has also provided a good example for the brothers' units in the subsequent deepening.

Digging a ditch for water diversion

Continue the past and forge a new chapter

The first step of the long march, and then all the staff of the project department of the Thar Coalfield I block in Pakistan will devote more enthusiasm to the construction of the Belt and Road project. Under stricter requirements in all aspects, not only the production scale , Breaking new heights in efficiency, but also more extensive participation in the country's Belt and Road construction, assume a more important role, and start a grand golden signboard. Editor/Sang Xiaomei