Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, May 23 / Trend H.Hasanov /
Since the beginning of the construction of mining and processing plant at the foot of the Koytendag ridge (Lebap province), a considerable amount of work for the construction of the largest plant in Central Asia for the production of potash fertilisers has been implemented, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reports on Wednesday.
'The driving of the first vertical shaft excavation of the future salt mine which is being built in the foothills of the Koytendag mining and processing enterprise continues at full pace', the article said.
In early 2010, the Turkmenhimiya State Concern signed a contract with JSC Belgorkhimprom (Belarus), to provide for the construction and commissioning of the plant in early 2015.
Experts at Belgorkhimprom, the principal contractor for construction of the plant, with the help of modern machinery and equipment have already passed several tens of metres of skip shaft, designed to lift the ore.
The article says that the construction of a mine for the extraction of potash fertilisers is in complex geological conditions under the protection of soil-cement curtains.
'Builders of future mines have to consider the increased seismic mountainous region and high levels of groundwater. This is especially for protection against the ingress of water in the shaft where we carried out jet grouting of the mouth of the three metre well which significantly improved the safety of ground operations', the article says.
In addition work is underway to lay communications, whilst the construction of facilities of water supply and power supply is nearing completion and work continues on laying fibre-optic cable for future microwave communication, a warehouse for the ore, roads and other facilities are under construction. At the same time the placing of orders for major equipment for mines and the flotation plant has begun.
The development of the Garlyk deposit which is one of the richest deposits of potash is located on the territory of Turkmenistan and will allow an annually production of 1.4 million tons.
The new production will not only fully meet the needs of the country's agriculture, but also send an annual export of thousands of tons of valuable fertiliser.