Mongolia is hoping to drum up more foreign investor interest in its flagging mining industry after opening up an additional 10.1 million hectares of territory for mining exploration. The country, estimated to possess $1.5 trillion worth of mineral resources like gold, copper and iron ore, started the application process for exploration licences on Jan. 26.
The additional space means that nearly a fifth of the country’s territory is now available for mining.
“The groundwork has been laid to issue exploration special licences in an orderly and planned form, taking the infrastructure, green development, and investment equality into consideration,” said mining ministry spokesman Galsan Bodibilguun. Licences may be granted to investors via application as well as open-tender bidding, he said. The ministry plans to wrap up negotiations for $4 billion of investment with China Shenhua Energy, Japan’s Sumitomo and Energy Resources LLC, a wholly owned unit of the Mongolian Mining Corp, before the start of the Mongolian lunar new year.