Continuing from the above, let’s continue talking about mining.

This chapter is all about professional knowledge. The author checked some information, compiled some data, and compiled this chapter. If you don't like it, just skip it. However, like a certain company, we "will not refund tickets."

There is another very critical indicator in open-pit mining, which is the “exploitation and stripping ratio”.

The extraction and stripping ratio, also called the stripping and stripping ratio in some documents, all have the same meaning, which refers to the amount of waste rock stripped per unit of useful minerals extracted.

The stripping ratio of an open-pit mine is one of the most important factors that affects the level of open-pit mining, and is directly related to key issues such as the mine's construction speed, economic effects, resource utilization, product quantity and product quality.

In the incident, there is a reasonable limit for the open-pit mining realm. The stripping ratio is the control index to determine this limit.

Note that this open-pit "mining realm" is the literal meaning of realm. It refers to the scope of mining and the boundaries of the land, not to people's moral cultivation.

The choice of realm is too large and the rock stripping ratio is too high, so it is not cost-effective.

The boundary selection is small, and the stripping ratio can be controlled, but the working area is small, the output is small, and the average cost is not necessarily low.

When doing evaluation calculations, this limit is roughly as follows:

For large-scale open-pit mines, the amount of rock stripping for 1 ton of ore shall not exceed 6 tons; for medium-sized mines, the amount shall not exceed 5 tons; and for small-sized mines, the amount shall not exceed 4 tons.

Baiyunxi Mine once made a calculation and selected several environments for mining. The stripping ratio can be controlled at 1:4.22, which means that more than 4 tons of mountain skin stone need to be stripped to mine 1 ton of ore.

What is the situation here in Australia?

The average is 2:1! Yes, the numerator is greater than the denominator.

The ratio for newly mined mines is generally 0.75:1; it can reach 1.5:1 after one year, and it becomes more economical as time passes. On average, two tons of iron ore are mined, and only one ton of mountain pebbles needs to be peeled off.

This is just a calculated number. In actual operation, many mines in Western Australia contain ore that can be mined after removing the earth and rocks on the mountain surface. Often they only need to perform perforation and blasting, and then go directly to the crusher for crushing. The ore passes through

The conveyor belt on the crusher is loaded into the mine car and transported to the port yard.

In a mining area, there is no need to arrange the process of rock stripping for a long time.

The mining efficiency of such a mine is very impressive.

Newman Mine, with an annual output of 38 million tons of ore last year, has only 1,100 employees, including 700 front-line workers and the other 400 transportation and laboratory personnel.

The Luobo River Mine has only 95 employees and an annual output of 24 million tons of ore.

Only 10 million tons of Western Australia's ore can be used domestically, and hundreds of millions of tons are exported every year. The Kangaroo Nation has become the world's largest exporter of iron ore.

The mining giants here in Western Australia have their own ports and terminals, and the ore storage capacity is particularly large, often storing tens of millions of tons of ore.

The main ports are Port Hedland, Port Rambo, and Port Dampi. These ports are dedicated ports for iron ore, with loading and unloading classes of 240,000 tons, 200,000 tons, and 160,000 tons respectively.

At present, these ports use ore reclaimers to operate, with a loading capacity of 10,000 tons/hour, and a 240,000-ton ore cargo ship can fill it in one day.

Theoretically, if two reclaimers operate at the same time, the arrival and departure of the giant iron ore ship can be completed in one day.

Moreover, the price of Australian ore at this time was still very affordable. In early 1998, the FOB price of lump ore was 37.68 cents/ton.

Pay attention to the two units. The first one is cents. The author is correct. In 1998, the price of iron ore in Western Australia could not be in US dollars because 1 US dollar was equal to 100 cents. The price of iron ore in Western Australia was in US dollars.

If calculated, the numbers are all after the decimal point.

The author will elaborate on the second unit, tonnage, because this unit will be used later.

Tonnage refers to the purity contained in 1 ton of material.

When calculating, a grade price can be used, which is what is usually called how much does a grade (or ton) cost. For example, if the content of a certain metal is 100 yuan per ton, then the price of each grade (ton degree) is 100

/100=1 yuan. If the metal content of a physical ton is 50% (50 grades), then the price of a physical ton is: 1×50=50 yuan/ton.

Calculated in this way, the FOB price of 60-grade Western Australian iron ore lump is 37.68×60=2260.8 cents, which is US$22.6 per ton.

At the end of 1997, the exchange rate between the US dollar and the RMB was 1:8.2798.

The FOB price of iron ore and lump ore in Western Australia is RMB 187.12.

Readers who read some of the previous chapters will know that the price of iron ore sold by Donghua to Lugang is 190 yuan per ton, which is basically the same as the FOB price of iron ore in Western Australia.

However, you must know that the ore grade of the Baiyunxi Mine is only over 30 points, while the grade of the iron ore in Western Australia is twice as high!

Ignoring the rare earths in the Dolomite Mine, based on tonnage calculations, the price of iron ore in the Dolomite Mine should be half that of Western Australia iron ore.

Maybe book friends will say, 187 is the FOB price, so what is the CIF price?

To transport iron ore on large-tonnage bulk ore cargo ships, freight needs to be calculated, including loading and unloading costs, as well as insurance premiums.

In 1998, these costs added up to an increase of about 5%, generally no more than 7%. This fluctuation is related to the shipping schedule and the tonnage of the cargo ship.

Western Australia's iron ore, based on 7%, has a CIF price of 200 yuan.

Iron ore with a grade of over 60 is priced at 200 yuan per ton. Do you want to buy it?

Of course, those steel companies that are near the sea and ports will buy it. It is more economical and more comfortable than using the poor domestic ore.

Using Australian mines means eating fine grains, while using domestic mines means eating coarse grains.

This is the fundamental reason why many steel companies in later generations moved to ports.

Of course, inland steel companies like Lugang need to think carefully about this.

The author calculated that in 1998, a wagon containing 50 tons of ore was transported by rail from Donggang, Jisheng to Lucheng Station. Calculated based on a mileage of 900 kilometers, it cost about 2,700 yuan, with an average price increase of 55 yuan per ton.

If you calculate it this way, it is more economical to spend 255 yuan to buy foreign ore with a grade of 60 or above than to spend 190 yuan to buy Donghua's Baiyun Mine. No wonder Lu Donglin blackmailed Chen Lidong and said he wanted to buy foreign ore.

However, this is under the condition that railway transportation capacity is guaranteed.

If Lugang purchases 5 million tons of foreign ore every year, it will transport 13,800 tons every day.

The 900-kilometer journey can be reached in 24 hours at the speed of this era, but it requires 6 freight trains with 100 cars, running non-stop in the opposite direction.

If calculating loading and unloading time, the number of trains needs to be multiplied by 2.

Unless Lugang invests in building a new ore transportation line, the Yanjing Railway Bureau will definitely let Lu Donglin go as far as he wants.

Back to the main story, Chen Lidong, who came from a later generation, certainly knew how awesome the Australian mine was, and he had already made his mind up here.
Chapter completed!