Saindak copper-zinc mine, Pakistan — 38,000 m DN600 cement-mortar lined pipe on the China-Pakistan corridor
Anti-Corrosion SSAW Steel Pipe Export Project to Pakistan
Project Background MCC Copper-Zinc Saindak Project Since construction began in 2003, the MCC Copper-Zinc Saindak project has been under way for sixteen years. Located deep in the northwest of Balochistan Province, Pakistan, in the Gobi mountains where Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran converge, the area has been described by many scholars as 'the most isolated corner of the world' and 'the last unexplored region on earth'. It is also the terminus of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative. The MCC Copper-Zinc Saindak copper-gold project is situated right here. Its completion will strongly drive the growth of mine profitability, promote the development of local mining, mineral processing, and related industries, and is of great significance for enhancing the image of Pakistan's national industry, improving local infrastructure, and raising the people's living standards.
Youcheng Wins the Contract
As one of the main winning suppliers of anti-corrosion spiral steel pipes, Youcheng Pipeline had the honor of undertaking the supply of the project's water transmission pipeline. The project uses DN600 national-standard spiral steel pipes in fixed lengths of 9 meters per piece. The pipe exterior is protected with coal-tar epoxy anti-corrosion coating, while the interior uses a cement-mortar lining anti-corrosion process, with a total contracted pipeline length of more than 38,000 meters.
The client dispatched supervision representatives to oversee and inspect the entire process — from re-inspection of raw materials upon arrival, through spiral pipe production and anti-corrosion processing, to delivery at the port — with production supervision and quality inspection carried out throughout, ensuring that product quality fully complies with the technical requirements specified in the contract.
The entire project, from contract signing to full delivery at Tianjin Port, took only 2 months. Along the way, the team faced numerous difficulties, including the early COVID-19 control measures, team members falling ill with fever after restrictions were lifted, and changing weather conditions. The project team overcame and resolved each problem one by one, dispatching a total of 325 truckloads — up to 28 trucks per day at peak — and working around the clock for more than 60 days to make the vessel schedule.
