In mid-April, the construction site of Lang Phung Grade III Apatite Ore Preparation Plant (Van Ban commune, Lao Cai province) maintained a state of urgent construction.
Hundreds of workers and machinery systems operate continuously, and items are deployed synchronously to shorten progress and bring the project to completion on schedule.
The project is invested by Tam Dinh Apatite Investment Joint Stock Company, with a total investment of more than 800 billion VND, a designed capacity of 250,000 tons of concentrated ore per year, and an expected operating time of 16 years.
This is one of the large-scale deep mineral processing projects of Lao Cai province, aiming to improve resource value and gradually reduce crude exports.
Through research, the project once experienced a period of stagnation due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, material price fluctuations and difficulties in the equipment supply chain. However, from 2024, the project has been restarted and quickly regained construction momentum.
Stepping into 2025, the investor and contractors simultaneously accelerated, mobilizing maximum resources to compensate for progress. To date, the total volume of construction and equipment installation has reached about 95%, and many important items have been completed.
According to Mr. Nguyen Manh Hai - Head of the Project Management Board of Lang Phung Apatite Ore Preparation Plant, the main items have been basically completed.
The crushing house, floating screening house, concentrating system, tail ore filter tank... have been completed. Currently, we are focusing on checking and technical adjustment to prepare for the trial run phase of the entire production line," Mr. Hai said.
Also according to Mr. Hai, it is expected that in June 2026, the project will conduct single-dynamic trial runs, followed by unloaded and loaded runs if it fully meets technical, safety and legal conditions.
The goal is to put the factory into commercial operation in the third quarter of 2026," Mr. Hai said.
During the implementation process, the project is under pressure from fluctuations in raw material prices, especially gasoline and oil, causing costs to incur about 20 billion VND. However, the investor has proactively balanced finances and supported the contractor to maintain progress.
In parallel with the construction progress, quality control and labor safety are tightened. After completion, all items are thoroughly inspected and accepted to ensure stable operation of the production line and limit risks.
Currently, there are about 150 workers and many large-scale construction equipment operating continuously at the construction site. The progress of installation of basic equipment closely follows the overall plan.
Mr. Tan Hung Vu - Director of construction site and equipment installation - said that the current progress is being well controlled.
Items such as floating mills, grinders, and concentrated tanks have been completed and installed. If major problems do not arise, we plan to test run them unloaded by the end of June 2026," Mr. Vu informed.
To serve the adjustment and operation work, the project also plans to add more than 30 experts, bringing the total number to more than 60 people.
It is known that when put into operation, the factory is expected to reach a capacity of 250,000 tons of apatite concentrate per year, contributing more than 200 billion VND to the state budget.
The project also creates stable jobs for about 120 - 150 local workers, of which about 50% are ethnic minorities.
Businesses have now implemented on-site vocational training to improve the quality of human resources and meet production requirements.
