VINACHEM

(VEN) - In2010, the Vietnam Apatite Limited Company allocated production electricityquota for ore-sifting member companies ranging from 96-110 kWh per productunit. By undertaking complete solutions, its member companies have activelyreduce power consumption to 79,9-100,2 kWh/product unit (equivalent to 10percent reduction), which have saved thousands of billion dong, making a majorcontribution to increasing profits for businesses and acting as a response tothe National Program on Energy Efficiency and Conservation adopted by thegovernment and launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Nguyen HuuCuong, an electro-mechanical engineer for Apatite Vietnam said that electriccosts in ore-sifting technology account from 18 percent to 20 percent ofore-sifting production prices. Apatite Vietnam has two companies located in CamDuong and Tang Loong with total output of 1.07 million tonnes per year. ApatiteVietnam consumes an average volume of 70 million kWh to 80 million kWh peryear, an equivalent to VND60-70 billion. Two ore-sifting companies aloneconsume about 65.3 million kWh per year. Therefore, electric cost reduction inproduction is receiving attention from the company leaders. In 2010, electricityconsumption of the two ore-sifting companies was cut by 11 percent, anequivalent of VND5.7 billion based on the projected production quota. To reduceelectricity consumption, the two member companies have applied varioussolutions such as adjusting sifting capacity to specific times related to threelevels of electricity tariffs, additionally adjusting proper capacity and usingvariable frequency for several high output additional charges. In additional,Apatite has operated power conservation equipment namely PowerBoss 2 strings.

Withcomprehensive design and efficient operation, companies have increasedproductivity, reduced product price by making the most use of loading abilityand limiting unloading condition, especially increasing the productivity inmaterial supply, ore smashing and mill process and no operation during off peakhours. Other effective solutions include the proper division of labor force andattention to monitoring and control activity to ensure smooth operation ofequipment to avoid stopping working or operating in unloading condition.Meanwhile, production lines are run with the biggest capacity during peak hoursand three work shifts are applied so that work breaks coincide with peak hours.

In addition,electric conservation reduction campaigns which were launched by Apatite membercompanies have become competitive campaigns and have been concretized intargets set out for specific production divisions and further integrated in theregulations on salaries, rewards and discipline. Support equipment used forexploiting, transporting, sifting and loading are placed in a good order whilstelectric conservation campaigns were carried out among production groups whichwere responsible for specific phase of production line. The two companies haveinvested in purchasing a series of new excavator and drill machines to saveenergy.

Miningfacilities have taken an initiative in raising awareness on electricconservation among officials whilst encouraging officials to use natural light,limit air conditioning, and replace 300W and 500W incandescent bulb lamps by25W and 100W compact lamps. Meanwhile, electric excavator machines are onlyoperated when there are two thirds of the number of machines so as to saveenergy. In 2010, electric consumption for soil and ore mining was 0.6kWh percubic meter and 04-0.3 kWh per cubic meter respectively. As the result, Apatitereported a less than 5 percent reduction in power loss. Thanks to acomprehensive solution application, Apatite saved VND1.5 billion and VND6billion of power costs regarding ore mining, processing and production.

In early 2011,the director of Apatite issued an instruction on power conservation. Membercompanies will be obliged to set plans on using electricity and proposesolutions on power conservation in administration and production divisions,striving to save 5 percent of power consumption in their companies compared tothe same period in 2010./.