Taiyuan Steel inks technology upgrading contract for Ekou mine

Shanxi Province-based Chinese steelmaker Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group (Taiyuan Steel or TISCO) has announced that it has inked a technology upgrading project contract with Chinese engineering company MCC North Engineering Technology Corporation of China (NETC) for its open-pit iron ore mine in Ekou, Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province.
 
Within the framework of the contract, NETC will convert the open-pit mining method at Ekou mine to underground mining. Ekou mine, which was commissioned in 1977, has a current annual production capacity of 4.8 million mt. Through the technology upgrading project, the annual production capacity of the mine is expected to rise to 7.5 million mt.
 
Meanwhile, Taiyuan Steel has also announced that it has developed mass production of square steel pipes for the heat discharge systems of AP 1000 nuclear island complexes. In the past, nuclear power stations in China mostly bought the product in question from foreign suppliers.