Preliminary results for the Erdenet to Ovoot railway
Published by Harleigh Hobbs,
Editor
World Coal,
Aspire Mining has provided preliminary results from a scooping study for the Erdenet to Ovoot railway. It was carried out in order to determine potential rail alignments from the end point of the railway northwest to the Russian/Mongolian border at Arts Suuri and further north towards the Russian city of Kyzyl in the Tuva province.
The study was prepared by Northern Railways LLC (Northern Railways), using data sets and parameters established in the completion of the PreFeasibility Study for the railway.
From the study, preliminary capital cost assessments, alignment paths and lengths and the early identification of any engineering, construction or operational challenges to develop rail infrastructure through this terrain are aimed to be uncovered.
The work has been undertaken to improve the level of confidence in the viability of the Steppe Railway as a new rail connection into Russia extending from the town of Erdenet through Aspire’s Ovoot Coking Coal Project (Ovoot) and then onto the Russian city of Kyzyl.
Results
Ovoot – Arts Suuri (230 – 250 km)
The terrain between Ovoot to Arts Suuri is relatively flat and similar to the Erdenet to Ovoot terrain, which provides good conditions for building and operating efficient bulk commodity rail as demonstrated.
Arts Suuri to Kyzyl (300 – 330 km)
The Arts Suuri to Kyzyl alignment is also generally flat and suitable for rail development. There is approximately 30 to 40 km of alignment that needs to traverse a mountain range. It is reported that the most suitable alignment appears to traverse through a relatively narrow pass. This requires further investigation into alignment and geometric parameters to balance capital construction costs and operational factors to achieve optimal outcomes in both directions.
Additional analysis is required to understand the capital cost and operating cost trade-offs in order to identify the optimal alignments.
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/exploration-and-development/07092015/preliminary-results-for-the-erdenet-to-ovoot-railway-2823/
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