Mining capacity has not met requirements, 6 southern traffic projects still lack sand

Many provinces have not identified sand sources.

The Ministry of Transport has just sent a document reporting to the Government leaders on the demand for sand materials for key transport projects in the Mekong Delta and the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 Project.

Sand mining capacity at licensed local mines serving the construction of 6 key transport projects in the Southern region is still more than 94,000 m3/day short of demand (Photo: Huong Ngan).

According to the Ministry of Transport, 5 key transport projects being implemented in the Mekong Delta region and the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project require a total demand for sand filling materials of about more than 65 million m3.

With the strong direction of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, up to now, localities have granted licenses and qualified to exploit mines with reserves of nearly 56 million m3, including: more than 50 million m3 of river sand, 5.5 million m3 of sea sand (including sand sources actively mobilized by investors on the market).

Five major transport projects are being implemented in the Mekong Delta region, including: Can Tho – Ca Mau, Chau Doc – Can Tho – Soc Trang, Cao Lanh – An Huu, My An – Cao Lanh, Ho Chi Minh road section Rach Soi – Ben Nhat, Go Quao – Vinh Thuan.

There are nearly 30 million m3 of sand undergoing licensing procedures for exploitation of 29.6 million m3, including nearly 28 million m3 of river sand and 2 million m3 of sea sand. The remaining nearly 10.5 million m3 have unidentified sources.

Reporting specifically on the material supply situation in each locality, the Ministry of Transport said that An Giang province has issued a confirmation, qualified to exploit 18.6 million m3, completed procedures to transfer 1.4 million m3 from mines supplying the horizontal highway to serve the supply for the vertical highway; The source of 3.3 million m3 to supply the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang component project 1 has not been determined; procedures to adjust the dredging capacity of the Vam Nao river have not been completed.

Vinh Long province has licensed and qualified to exploit 1.6/1.4 million m3 to supply the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project, about 4 million m3 of the total demand (5 million m3) to supply the Can Tho - Ca Mau project.

Tien Giang province has licensed and qualified to exploit 1.7 million m3 for Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3; is completing procedures for nearly 12 million m3; the source of more than 4 million m3 has not been identified.

Ben Tre province has issued a Confirmation of 2 mines with a reserve of 3.6 million m3 to supply the Can Tho - Ca Mau project and the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang component project 3; is completing procedures for more than 4 million m3 to supply the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3; the source of 1.8 million m3 to supply the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang component project 3 has not been determined.

Dong Thap province has issued a confirmation, qualified to exploit more than 9 million m3; is carrying out procedures to supply 0.3 million m3 for component project 2 Cao Lanh - An Huu and nearly 4 million m3 for My An - Cao Lanh project.

Soc Trang province has completed licensing procedures for exploiting 6.6 million m3 of river sand and is completing procedures for 9.5 million m3 to supply to component project 4 Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang.

According to the Ministry of Transport, although localities have mobilized all mines in the area to supply projects according to assigned targets, licensing procedures are still slow and mining capacity has not met the required progress of the projects.

“Currently, the average capacity according to environmental impact assessment of the mines in operation is 76,131 m3/day, the mines in the process of procedures is 68,894 m3/day.

If all procedures for the mines that have submitted their applications are completed in December 2024, the exploitation capacity will only reach 145,025 m3/day. While the capacity needed to meet the project completion schedule is 239,046 m3/day, there is still a shortage of 94,021 m3/day,” the Ministry of Transport analyzed.

Along with the participation of local authorities, investors/contractors are also asked to actively search for sand sources and speed up construction progress (Photo: Gia Minh).

Thoroughly complete mining procedures in December

Faced with the above situation, the Ministry of Transport recommends that the Government leaders consider and direct the People's Committees of the provinces: An Giang, Dong Thap, Vinh Long, Ben Tre, Tien Giang to proactively review mines in the area (expired mines but still have reserves, mines in planning periods, mines in operation that can increase capacity); Implement procedures for mine assignment, mine licensing, and increase mine capacity to ensure sufficient supply for projects according to assigned targets.

The People's Committee of An Giang province urgently identifies, supplements resources and completes procedures for exploiting 3.3 million m3; coordinates with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to complete procedures for adjusting the dredging capacity of the Vam Nao River in December 2024.

Also in December, the People's Committee of Vinh Long province urgently identified, supplemented sources and completed procedures to exploit 1.2 million m3 according to the assigned target.

Tien Giang Provincial People's Committee completed licensing procedures for mines under process (reserves of nearly 12 million m3), added more resources and completed exploitation procedures for more than 4 million m3 according to assigned targets.

Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee has supplied 1 million m3 as assigned to the Can Tho - Ca Mau project. In particular, the locality needs to carry out procedures to regulate the remaining reserves from the sand mines being exploited to compensate for the shortage due to the cessation of exploitation of some mines that have collapsed and the quality of the sand is not guaranteed.

For the People's Committee of Ben Tre province, the Ministry of Transport requested to urgently complete licensing procedures for mines to supply the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project (reserves of 4.2 million m3) by early January 2025; add more sources and complete exploitation procedures for 1.8 million m3 to supply the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang component project 3.

“The People's Committee of Soc Trang province needs to speed up the procedures for granting river sand mines to supply enough volume for the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang component project 4 according to the construction schedule; coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to complete the procedures for handing over the sea area for the B1.3 sea sand mine; complete the procedures and decide according to the authority on deep sand mining at the MS11 mine,” the Ministry of Transport requested.

To meet the material needs for the project, the Ministry of Transport also requested investors and contractors to proactively coordinate with localities to review and search for additional sources from mines (mines with expired mining licenses but still have reserves, mines in operation, planned mines, etc.) and implement procedures to supplement sources, mining capacity, and use sand sources available on the market.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/cong-suat-khai-thac-chua-dap-ung-yeu-cau-6-du-an-giao-thong-phia-nam-van-thieu-cat-192241228122829975.htm