Erdenet Mining Corporation thanked INRTU for long-term training of personnel for mining and heavy industry sectors of Mongolia

As part of the 100th anniversary of the mining and heavy industry of Mongolia, the INRTU delegation headed by Rector Mikhail Korniakov visited Mongolia, where members met management staff of mining enterprises and Mongolian graduates in Ulaanbaatar and Erdenet.

Acquaintance with Erdenet began with a visit of local museum, industrial site of the mining and processing plant, a branch of the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.

Erdenet itself has a close historical connection with Russia, as starting from 1974 to 2016, the company had the status of a joint Mongolian-Russian enterprise. Almost half of the plant’s employees were specialists from Russia and CIS-countries.

Therefore, there are more Russian-speaking Mongols here than anywhere else on the territory of Mongolia.

Russian language learning and culture promotion among the local population plays an important role in the educational school, wh ere the language of instruction is still Russian.

Until recently, radio and television were broadcast in two languages in Erdenet — Mongolian and Russian.
It is natural that the largest number of graduates of Irkutsk Polytechnic University is concentrated in this small mining town.
When INRTU delegation arrived, more than 75 graduates of INRTU gathered for celebration in the beautiful hall of the "Erdenet" Enterprise.

Addressing the graduates-participants of the solemn event in honor of the 100th anniversary of the mining and heavy industry of Mongolia, Mikhail Korniakov noted the high technological level of the "Erdenet" Enterprise.
The rector told about such an interesting fact that in different periods of time the enterprise was managed by three INRTU graduates — Shagdaryn Otgonbileg, Hokhoryn Badamsuren and, current general manager Endon Galengiin.

Two of them — Shagdaryn Otgonbileg and Hokhoryn Badamsuren were titled the Hero of Labor of Mongolia.

All of them graduated from the university in the same specialty «mining engineer — surveyor».

The Department of Surveying and Geodesy of INRTU has trained outstanding managers and professionals who have made a great personal contribution to the development of the mining industry of Mongolia.

As a sign of appreciation to his alma mater, the General manager of the "Erdenet" Enterprise -  Mr. Endon Galengiin, presented the Rector Mikhail Korniakov a commemorative statuette from alloy of copper and nickel, made by employees of the company, with the following inscription: «With gratitude from the graduates of the Irkutsk Polytechnic Institute (INRTU) in honor of the 100th anniversary of the mining industry of Mongolia» as well as a letter of thanks addressed to the INRTU staff. In the text of the letter it is noted that «graduates of the "Erdenet" Enterprise express their deep appreciation and gratitude to the teachers and lecturers of the Irkutsk Polytechnic University. The university has trained hundreds of specialists for the company, who are implementing new technologies aimed at developing the production capacities of the Enterprise.»

To recall, the «Erdenet Mining Corporation» is engaged in the extraction and enrichment of copper-molybdenum ore. Up-to-date, the enterprise processes 35 million tons of ore per year, produces about 530.0 thousand tons of copper and about 4.5 thousand tons of molybdenum concentrate. In addition to mining and ore processing, it produces cathode and foundry copper, copper wire, flexible cable.

The exploration division continues to explore new fields. Mongolia is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of exports of copper and molybdenum concentrate. "Erdenet" Enterprise is a world-class company and the pride of its country.

As part of a business meeting with the company’s management, Rector Mikhail Korniakov proposed to organize retraining and advanced training of the engineering and technical staff of the Enterprise at Irkutsk Polytechnic University on a regular basis.
That evening, Mongolian graduates of different generations remembered with great warmth their INRTU teachers, Russian friends and their best student years.
The ceremony of awarding certificates of honor began with the elders who graduated from Irkutsk Polytechnic Institute back in 60s.

They were those, young Mongolian mining engineers, together with Russian specialists, who built the mining and processing plant and extracted the first ore.

Dashbatyn Battogtokh, a graduate of the School of Power Engineering, graduated in 1967, was one of the first who received a diploma and an INRTU badge.
The meeting ended with honoring the young generation of graduates — miners, surveyors, power engineers, concentrators, environmentalists, economists.

Among them is a graduate of the School of Subsurface Resource Management Ganbaatar Uuganbaatar. In 2014, he graduated with honors on major «Mineral processing». Ganbaatar Uuganbaatar recalls that in 2008 he came to Irkutsk without knowing a word in Russian.

«Thanks to Larisa Yerbayeva, I learned to speak Russian in a year. We lived in the dormitory No. 12 together with other foreign students. I will always remember our head of the hostel Oksana Vikulova, who became a mother for Mongolian students.

She raised, praised, scolded, pitied and protected us. Largely thanks to her, some foreign students graduated from the university. I would like to thank the teachers who taught me my profession — Konstantin Fedotov, Vera Vlasova, Galina Badenikova, Viktor Zapov, Valentina Domracheva.

I have absorbed respect for the Russian engineering school since childhood and decided that I should learn from the best. Eight years have passed since I graduated from the University and returned to Mongolia, but every day I remember Irkutsk, Russia and my second home Irkutsk Polytechnic," Ganbaatar Uuganbaatar concluded his story.