With a reserve of 544 million tons, an iron ore mine in central Vietnam has stood abandoned since 2011 following investment issues and environmental fears. 

Thach Khe iron ore mine covers 4,821 hectares (nearly 12,000 acres) of five coastal communes in Thach Ha District, central Ha Tinh Province. Discovered in 1960, Thach Khe is currently the biggest iron ore mine in Southeast Asia with a reserve of 544 million tons.

In 2008, Ha Tinh-based Thach Khe Iron JSC (TIC) started the project with total investment capital of VND14.5 trillion ($627.61 million as per current exchange rate) over 50 years. In this photo, workers are seen taking part in the project’s inauguration in September, 2009. Local authorities back then had expected the project to help create jobs for thousands of locals and produce both low- and high-quality iron ore for the domestic metallurgy industry.

A scene at the Thach Khe iron ore mine in early 2011.

By the end of 2011, workers had already finished stripping the surface layer to reach a depth of 34 meters below sea level and extracted 3,000 tons of ore.

However, after that, the project encountered problems in mobilizing capital for site clearance, contractor payments and resettlement of affected households. Subsequently, the government in November 2011 had to suspend and re-evaluate the project amid TIC shareholder restructuring.

The rusting main entrance to the factory remains closed in March 2021. Excavators once used to serve iron exploitation now stand idle in the front yard.

Trucks, cranes and barrels have been left untouched since 2011. At the end of 2016, the administration of Ha Tinh Province wrote to the central government, proposing to suspend the project since mining technology and techniques were not suited to the geological characteristics of the mine, posing environmental risks; the mode of ore transportation was unfeasible and showed low efficiency, which could affect transport infrastructure in the area around the mine; and the consumption market for iron ore was uncertain.

An area that was once an open pit iron mine has now become a lake tens of meters deep.

Pipes that stretch hundreds of meters long remain in situ.

Local housing within the mining area previously designated for demolition. As planned, a total 839 hectares of residential area must be cleared for the project and 3,952 families resettled but thus far, only 100 have been relocated.

This former office building was used by contractors supplying the project with construction machinery, equipment and building materials.

Since the project has been left untouched for years, many households subjected to relocation have returned to their old homes.

Bui Quang Dao, 56, said his family had received VND1 billion ($43,300) in compensation to move to a resettlement area three kilometers from the mine but for the past three years, he had returned to grow crops and raise cattle. Dao said once the project resumes, he would move out immediately.

A herd of cows graze within the mining area.

Locals often go fishing within the mining area. A provincial official told VnExpress on Friday the locality has considered the option of suspending the project. The mine lies way too close to the sea and town of Ha Tinh, the provincial capital, and if exploitation is to continue, it would impact human health. "Several weeks ago, the province had sent another proposal to suspend the project to the government," he said.