An open-pit coal mining operation in the northern province of Quang Ninh. (Photo: VNA) The mining sector plays a key role in supplying the country's other sectorswith raw materials, especially for Vietnam as a developing nation, according toProf. Bui Xuan Nam, deputy dean of the Hanoi University of Mining and Geology.
Nam said the development of the sector remained a must-do step in the country'sprocess of modernisation and industrialisation, and digitalisation should bemade an integral part for its potential to quickly transform and further thesector's objectives.
Tee Boon Teong, CEO of Informa Markets Vietnam, stressed the importance of thesector and its contribution to Vietnam's socio-economic development.
He said in future projections the Southeast Asian economy will require anadditional 10% of electricity from now until 2030.
However, the country continued to rely on its coal-fired power plants, which intotal supplied 46% of its energy needs in 2022, projected to jump to 56% in2030.
The number of coal-fired power plants in Vietnam is set to rise from 32 in 2020to 51 in 2050 with a projected input of 129 million tonnes of coal, which willonly be partly met by some 200 coal mines across the country.
While the development of greener energy sources including wind and solar powerhas shown some progress, economic growth will likely outpace energy production.In a near future, it can be a challenging task to reduce reliance on coal if Vietnamis to stay committed to its carbon emission pledges in the future.
The only path forward, therefore, is to focus on the development andimplementation of environmentally-conscious science and technology, accordingto Tee.
Dr. Le Tien Dung from the university, however, said the implementation of modernscience and technology has not been widespread, mostly limited to theoreticalmodels and lacking in practical applications.
He cited a number of reasons including a shortfall in rigorous technicalrequirements in mine designs and operations, relatively high cost of industrialdesign software, sub-par skilled labour and management capacity.
He urged policymakers to focus on the building of technical standards made tospecifications of Vietnam's geographical conditions, the modernisation ofmining operations, mine designs and additional training for the labour force.
Shane Dolmaschenz from Deswil, an Australia-based mining consulting andtechnology company, said more attention should be placed on limiting theenvironmental impacts of the industry such as damage to the water sources, thesoil, the air and the ecosystem.
In addition, regulations and standards should be updated to better protectworkers' health and that of the nearby communities, live up to internationalmanagement standards and ensure sustainable development of the industry.Management must be required to constantly update and feed their mining data toregulators as a basis to form operational decisions.
Besides, participants at the event voiced their concerns over the impact ofthe COVID-19 pandemic on the sector./.
VNA
