Mine

While Mongolian coal exports plummet, U.S. coal exports are on the rise In the next 5 years, 175 coal-burning power plants in the United States are predicted to close, which represents 8.5% of total electricity produced by coal in that country.

Fears grow that Rio Tinto’s smelter in New Zealand may close as aluminum prices drop The government of New Zealand offered Rio Tinto a short-term subsidy to help pay for electricity for its aluminum smelter in Tiwai Point in southern New Zealand.

Cozy relationship in China between government and state mining businesses is scarring the environment The case of China presents a unique set of obstacles to protect the environment from mining activities. State companies retain strong ties to the government and continue to provide many of the services the state previously supplied.

Report released Monday indicates spiraling costs of Oyu Tolgoi project A report released by Turquoise Hill on Monday estimates that the cost of second-phase development of its Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project at $5.1 billion. This equals what the company had estimated the year prior.

SouthGobi Resources blames suspension of licenses for fourth quarter losses Reuters reports that SouthGobi Resources Ltd’s revenue plummeted to $53 million from $179 million the year prior.

Centerra reports higher output, lower costs at Boroo Centerra Gold has reported that gold production at the Boroo mine in the fourth quarter of 2012 was 29,878 ounces, compared to 12,866 ounces in the same period of 2011. The production increase of 12,614 ounces is a result of processing higher grade ore from Pit 6 and the addition of 7,486 ounces of production from the heap leach operation which resumed in October 2012.

Complex challenges face Mongolia’s coal industry The government of Mongolia recognises both that exploitation of its mineral wealth is essential if the economy is to grow and that it must establish a sustainable way forward if it is to avoid the problems that have affected several other resource rich developing countries in the past.

Oyu Tolgoi produces first concentrate Turquoise Hill Resources has announced that its 65%-owned Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold project has now produced its first copper/gold concentrate after it processed first ore through the concentrator in early January.

Mongolia Minerals targets 2014 for first production Fluorspar developer Mongolia Minerals is targeting a production date of late 2014 for its Dai Uul project in Central Mongolia.

Altan Rio intersects 1.77 gt gold over 8.05 m at Chandman-Yol Toronto-listed Altan Rio Minerals has announced results from the recently completed drilling programme at its 100%-owned Chandman-Yol copper-gold porphyry project, including 8.05 m at 1.77 g/t gold only 16.30 m from surface, at the recently discovered Takhilt target.

No E-TT IPO in 2013 The Tavan Tolgoi coal project is facing financial difficulties and an initial public offering for the mine originally scheduled for this year will not go ahead, its chief executive has said. Ya.

Mongolia tapping Shenhua to replace Chalco Mongolian ambassador Ts. Sukhbaatar has said his country is reaching out to China’s largest coal producer China Shenhua Energy in an effort to break a deadlock over the terms of the souring coal supply deal with Chalco. The impasse has led in part to Tavan Tolgoi being unable to continue to pay for the logistical operations of transporting and exporting the coal to China, he said.

Aspire and Noble in “game changing” deal Aspire Mining has snared a major deal with Noble Group that will provide significant support for the development of the Ovoot Coking Coal Project.

Khan Resources makes progress in UN arbitration against Mongolia Khan Resources reports that the United Nations (UN) Commission on International Trade Law has taken the arbitration between project developer Khan Resources and the Mongolian Government to the quantum and damages phase.

Mining Minister commissions OT concentrator The very last week of 2012 saw Oyu Tolgoi LLC take a big step towards the future. With MPs, cabinet members, and ambassadors watching, Mining Minister D. Gankhuyag pressed the activation button on the concentrator to formally mark the commissioning of the largest and most technologically advanced machine ever built in Mongolia.

Ovoot review confirms project economics, says Aspire Following a review of the prefeasibility study (PFS) of its Ovoot coking coal project, Aspire Mining believes it could be one of the lowest-cost potential sources of coal bound for China. The PFS review confirms the project’s economics, with a net present value of $1.7 billion and a life-of-mine net cash surplus, after taxes and capital of $8.3 billion, based on a medium-term average coking coal price of $200/t.

Zimbabwe engineer helps Mongolia’s gold diggers Development workers do not necessarily have to come from the West. A mining expert from Zimbabwe is helping improve the lives of small-scale miners in Mongolia.

Boroo Gold gets permission to resume heap leach operations Toronto-based Centerra Gold has received regulatory approval to resume heap leach operations at its Boroo mine, where operations were suspended in June, 2009, following charges of impropriety by the Mongolian government on issues such as record keeping, land use, and operational procedures.

Peabody is invited to cooperate in developing the West Tsankhi Erdenes Tavantolgoi , which has started to develop the Tavantolgoi’s “second” mine known as West Tsankhi , taken next step to progress its operation. The company’s sent to the Peabody Energy the proposal to cooperate in developing the West Tsankhi as a contract miner.

Petro Matad extends exploration period for XX block for 5 years Petro Matad has said it will spend up to US$47 million on exploration programmes on the XX block in Mongolia over the next five years. This comes as the Mongolian authorities extended the exploration period under the production sharing contract (PSC) for the block. Work at block XX has up until now focused on the DavsanTolgoi target, which disappointed last year.