Variant Mining’s Oyu Tolgoi chute contract: haulage design notes for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Variant Mining Technologies has secured a multi-year contract to supply underground truck loading chutes to Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia, one of the world’s largest block cave operations. The Lively, Ontario-based firm specialises in engineered loading systems for high-tonnage, abrasive ore handling, suggesting the chutes will be tailored to Oyu Tolgoi’s deep-level, high-capacity haulage circuits. The deal signals continued investment in robust materials handling infrastructure as the underground expansion ramps up.
Technical Brief
- Long-distance logistics for large steel assemblies will drive packaging, modularisation and on-site assembly planning.
- Chutes are engineered for abrasive copper-gold ore, suggesting heavy wear liners and robust impact design.
- Multi-year framework suggests standardised chute design, simplifying spares, maintenance procedures and operator training.
- Similar long-horizon chute contracts at large caving mines often tie into life-of-mine materials handling strategies.
Our Take
Oyu Tolgoi is one of the few copper–gold assets in our mining database where long-life underground development has consistently driven demand for specialised loading and materials-handling systems, suggesting Variant Mining Technologies is positioning itself in the higher-spec end of the chute market rather than short-life open pits.
Among the 635 Mining stories in our coverage, copper-linked items frequently involve productivity and reliability upgrades rather than greenfield builds, so a multi-year chute contract at Oyu Tolgoi likely reflects Rio Tinto’s focus on incremental throughput and maintenance risk reduction rather than major new capacity.
With Variant Mining Technologies based in Lively, Ontario, this deal adds to a pattern in our database of Canadian mining-equipment suppliers exporting into Asian copper hubs like Mongolia, which tends to give those OEMs a reference base that can be leveraged into other Rio Tinto or Tier-1 copper operations.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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