Nui Beo Coal innovates to increase labor productivity

  Improve labor productivity, ensure occupational safety and hygiene.

A tram carrying workers through the mine at Nui Beo Coal Joint Stock Company. Photo: Provided by Nui Beo Coal Joint Stock Company

The Nui Beo underground mine is located under an old open-pit dump, with complex hydrogeological conditions and potential water risks. The coal seams have high thermal properties, leading to the risk of internal fires in the mine. The company is in the process of gradually increasing production, moving towards reaching the design capacity, so it needs to add labor every year to match the rate of increase in production. However, recruiting underground mine workers is increasingly difficult. Therefore, developing science and technology to control safety risks and reduce direct labor in the mine is a very urgent issue.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Head of the Mining Engineering and Technology Department, the unit has identified 5 main equipment groups that need to be newly invested in, creating breakthroughs in science and technology and innovation. Regarding exploitation, the company will put into operation a medium-sized CGH longwall with a capacity of 600,000 tons/year to improve working conditions and increase labor productivity. At the same time, it will continue to study geological conditions and invest in a light-sized CGH longwall with a capacity of 350,000 tons/year in 2025, aiming to make further breakthroughs in science and technology development, gradually replacing manual longwall with drilling and blasting, reducing the number of direct workers in the mine.

Regarding tunnel excavation, the unit applies large-diameter drilling and boring technology using a drilling machine to dig vertical bunkers to regulate transportation for areas and improve transportation capacity throughout the company. This is a new technology and has shown remarkable effectiveness. The company has developed a plan to submit to the Group for approval and plans to continue constructing additional vertical bunkers this year. Regarding transportation, the company has put into use 2 diesel locomotive systems combined with guide rails to transport people, materials, equipment, especially large-tonnage CGH equipment, creating favorable conditions for transportation and application of CGH equipment in tunnel excavation and exploitation. In 2025, the company will invest in additional equipment to meet production expansion requirements.

Conveyor system transporting coal in Nui Beo furnace. Photo: Hoang Yen

Nui Beo underground mine has 5 coal seams mobilized for exploitation, of which 3 seams are identified as having spontaneous combustion. To cope with this risk, it is necessary to invest in coal seam temperature control equipment to forecast early and eliminate the risk of spontaneous combustion at the seams in the coming time. In the condition that Nui Beo underground mine is partly exploited under the old open-pit waste dump, monitoring and preventing water bursts is an extremely important goal. Therefore, it is necessary to learn from developed countries to propose investing in water burst monitoring and prevention technology equipment in front of the mirror, enhancing mine safety.

Overcoming many difficulties due to unfavorable geological conditions and the number of miners recruited is not enough to meet production needs, by the end of the first quarter of 2025, Nui Beo Coal Joint Stock Company had exploited 489,000 tons of raw coal, dug 3,315m of tunnel, consumed 450,000 tons of clean coal, revenue of 732 billion VND, average salary of 21.3 million VND/person/month. The achieved targets all exceeded the quarterly operating plan.

According to the leader of Nui Beo Coal Joint Stock Company, this year, the unit will conduct more thorough geological exploration, develop early production scenarios, and minimize the number of transitions to focus on coal production. At the same time, synchronously deploy many solutions, such as: Proactively control geological documents to effectively operate 2 synchronous CGH longwall mining complexes; calculate and deploy interoperability to control main conveyor lines, install cameras along the conveyor lines; effectively manage and operate the centralized control system of the central drainage pumping station, 35/6kV power station, main fan station, local fan station, etc., gradually control and minimize direct labor in the tunnel.

The unit also accelerates the implementation of the water burst prevention monitoring system and the coal seam temperature monitoring system in the 2025-2026 period to strengthen the control of safety risks; researches and deploys the personnel positioning system in 2025 to strengthen the control of people entering and working in the mine, and improve the capacity in labor safety management. This is not only the basis for the unit to fully complete the production and business targets set for 2025, but also accelerates the realization of the goal of building a modern, low-people, safe, green, clean and resource-saving underground mine.

Do Hung

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/than-nui-beo-doi-moi-de-tang-nang-suat-lao-dong-3352457.html