page_title: Yacimientos Carboníferos Río Turbio
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Yacimientos Carboníferos Río Turbio / Production
caption_attribution_description: Español: Locomotora de YCRT
context_page_description: Yacimientos Carboníferos Río Turbio is an Argentinian coal mining company created in 1994 to replace Yacimientos Carboníferos Fiscales, along with the privatization of many other inefficient state-owned enterprises. It was created to extract, ship and sell the coal from the municipality of Rio Turbio.
  YCRT runs the Río Turbio coal mine, in the southern province of Santa Cruz, along the Andes border with Chile. It also has a rail line connecting to the Punta Loyola port, a 25 MW power station for internal use, and a 240 MW thermal power station linked to the Argentinian Interconnection.
  It was a privately managed company between 1994 and 2002, when the government intervened it because of a bankruptcy claim. The current state-designated comptroller who runs the company is Anibal Fernandez. Despite being under public administration since 2002, it still has a legal form of Sociedad Anónima.
context_section_description: The mine uses the long walls mining method with controlled explosions.
  The operation has two stages: the first one, in the interior of the mine, where galleries are prepared and the coal is extracted; and a second one, outside the mine, where the coal is washed and purified. Residue accounts for about 50% of the extracted mineral, which needs to be washed in order to be used as fuel.
  During the washing, residues as clay and sandstone are eliminated. Then, the washed coal is milled and treated with a dense solution with suspended magnetite. This way, residual clay can be separated from the fine coal through decantation.
  Residues from the washing (which are called "sterile") are sent to the treatment plant of the mine, where they precipitate and separate from water through a leveled drain. Effluent water from the treatment plant is discharged into the San José creek, and solid residue is sent via conveyor belt to a "sterile pile" where it is accumulated.
  The sterile pile has been accumulating residues for over 30 years, presenting a serious environmental hazard due to its close location to the San José creek.
  The coal is then transported via rail to Punta Loyola, a 285 kilometres (177 mi) long route that takes 8 hours, and then sent via ship to Buenos Aires. Some of the coal is also used in the Santa Cruz province for heating.
caption: Rio Turbio rail freight locomotive
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