Hard Work Delivers Results, Striving Forges Glory ——Jiaxin Bakuta Tungsten Project Sets New Development Speed with Solid Strength

On November 1, 2024, trial production was successfully launched, marking a critical step toward commercial operations. On April 9, 2025, the project surpassed the 10,000-ton production capacity milestone, achieving the target for scaled production. By the end of June 2026, cumulative standard tungsten output had exceeded internal assessment targets, with both production volume and quality reaching new highs—fulfilling the "half-year overachievement" goal in the year following commissioning. Located in Kazakhstan, the birthplace of the "Belt and Road" initiative, the Bakuta Tungsten Project has become a shining example of China-Kazakhstan industrial capacity cooperation.

These seemingly straightforward figures are not merely a testament to the "Jiaxin Speed" in overseas mining development and operations—they also demonstrate the adaptability of Jiaxin's technology, standards, and capabilities in tackling complex overseas working conditions and production challenges. Every Jiaxin overseas builder, whether from Jiaxin Hong Kong, Jiangxi Copper, CRCC, CCECC, or local staff, has contributed enduring warmth and hands-on drive to the project's high-quality development.

Winter in Kazakhstan has never been forgiving—the biting cold pierces to the bone. As in every past year, winds at minus 20°C carried snowflakes that stung the face like sandpaper.

Worse still, the water intake for production was sealed by thick ice, while the fresh water and return water systems frequently froze and clogged, bringing water supply to the brink of collapse. This harsh cold is a normal part of the local winter, yet the crisis still weighed heavily on everyone's mind.

Qu Anhui, the concentrator plant manager, stood silently by the ice-covered intake. He knew that once the production line stopped, the shutdown would last more than three months—and even with all-out efforts afterward, the output lost to the winter could never be fully recovered. "If there's no water, we break the ice. If conditions aren't there, we create them!" At the mobilization meeting, his voice was hoarse but unwavering.

Li Chengfeng from the integrated workshop rushed to the water intake before dawn every day during that period. Bundled in thick winter gear, he stood with the Kazakh crew on the ice, coordinating excavators to chip away at it non-stop. His hands were covered in frostbite; he slapped on a band-aid and went back to checking frozen pipes on his knees. He wrapped insulation layer by layer around the pipelines and increased patrol frequency to once every two hours.

When colleagues urged him to warm up indoors, he rubbed his red hands and said, "If equipment breaks, we can fix it. But if production stops, morale collapses."

During those days, meals in the canteen were reheated again and again, because people kept coming back late from the wind and snow. Not a single person complained—because everyone knew that far from home, each other was all they could count on.

Process Is the Lifeline: Facing Bottlenecks and Fighting Through

With water supply secured, new challenges soon followed. Frequent fluctuations in ore properties, lagging flotation reagent adaptation, poor water clarification performance, and persistently low tungsten recovery, concentrate output, and grade—these data points dragged at everyone's hearts like cold iron chains.

In response, the management team quickly assessed the situation and deployed multiple technical task forces, launching a full-scale quality and efficiency improvement initiative.

At the 1,700-meter-high mining face, Deputy Chief Production Engineer Jiang Chungeng moved tirelessly between drilling and blasting, on-site sampling, stripping and loading, and ore supply operations. He scrutinized every detail, reviewed every process, refined blending plans, and continuously adjusted the engineering layout to ensure total ore supply and quality.

His Kazakh colleagues joked: "Jiang, you're on-site so often that our vehicles can barely keep up with your pace."

Even more gripping was the concentrator technical team. Facing flotation reagent adaptation issues and poor water clarification, they lived at the site for a full week—recording data by day and analyzing it by night. The whiteboards in the meeting room were covered with flowcharts and formulas.

One young technician posted on social media late at night, with just five words: "Is everyone OK at home?" The photo showed the moon over Kazakhstan outside the window.

It was this group of people—bloodshot eyes but unshakable resolve—who, through relentless effort, gradually pulled the declining indicator curve back onto an upward trajectory.

From March onward, tungsten concentrate output increased month by month, grade steadily improved, and recovery rates continued to rise.

In June, the daily output of tungsten concentrate exceeded 30 tons (standard tungsten) for more than ten consecutive days, setting a new historical record.

When the data turned positive across the board for the first time, the room—once heavy with tension—filled with applause and emotional cheers. Only those who had lived through it truly understood how hard the journey had been.

Craftsmanship Is the Foundation: Guarding Operations Day and Night

The concentrator production line is long, with numerous pieces of equipment and closely linked processes. Full-time inspector Luo Jianjun carries a worn-out notebook wherever he goes, filled with detailed notes on the "temperament" of each machine.

One night during patrol, he "heard" an abnormal vibration in the secondary cone crusher. Drawing on years of experience, he knew the problem was serious and immediately called Maintenance Supervisor Wu Ruihua. Upon disassembly, they found severely worn liners, which were replaced promptly averting a shutdown accident. Luo later said only: "Equipment always gives warning signs if something is wrong. The key is whether you can detect them in time."

The annual maintenance in early May was the longest and toughest battle in every maintainer's memory. Six days, over a hundred tasks—Chinese and Kazakh maintenance crews worked in rotating shifts around the clock.

Jiaxin dispatched technical experts to teach local staff hands-on skills in disassembling and assembling large equipment. Replacing ball mill liners, changing belts, dismantling and inspecting cone crushers, retrofitting flotation cells and the coarse crushing station feeder—six days and nights of non-stop work. Many maintainers had bloodshot eyes and were covered in grease, but not one stepped back. Their unwavering dedication secured the operational stability that underpinned stable and high-output production.

Heritage Is the Bridge: Mentorship Without Borders

The most moving sight at the Bakuta project is not just the equipment and technology—it is the human connection and the passing of knowledge.

When Kazakh employee Ayboli first joined, he was both amazed and overwhelmed by the modern ball mills and flotation equipment. Watching the fluctuating processing indicators on the screen, he often felt at a loss. Zhang Jiansheng, the Chinese flotation shift leader, said little but stood by his side every day, teaching him button by button, data point by data point. When issues arose, Zhang took Ayboli through disassembly and repairs, explaining equipment principles and maintenance techniques on the spot—learning by doing.

Zhang also compiled his years of experience into a simple operating manual, complete with diagrams and data, and passed it on to Ayboli step by step.

Today, Ayboli is no longer the "rookie" he once was. He can independently handle the entire workflow, interpret every set of production data, and assess operational status through data changes—becoming a technical backbone among Kazakh staff.

He said something that, when translated into Chinese, moved many deeply: "Mr. Zhang taught me not just skills, but what responsibility means. I want to become someone like him."

Technology transcends language; craftsmanship crosses borders. At Bakuta, Chinese and Kazakh employees working side by side has become the norm—bilingual annotations on drawings, joint maintenance teams, and shared cups of hot tea in the night shift room. Their actions embody the most precious friendship along the "Belt and Road," and offer a vivid and warm footnote to the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Looking back, the extreme cold could not freeze their resolve, the bottlenecks could not defeat their wisdom, the equipment could not break their will, and isolation could not extinguish their passion. This team has engraved the Jiaxin Speed into the heart of Central Asia, turned Jiaxin technology into the roar of machinery, and left the spirit and warmth of Jiaxin's overseas builders in the hearts of every brother-in-arms from different nations.

Now, the Jiaxin front-line team is charging toward a "full-year grand slam." The drums of battle beat urgently—but they have long grown accustomed to pressing forward under wind, sand, and stars. For the Jiaxin front-line team, there is no finish line—only the next stop on an endless journey forward.

Text & Photos: Xiang Genfa, Wang Guangwu, Wang Yang
Editor: Yan Minghe
Proofreader: Zhang Huajing