Эрдсийг эрдэнэст
Ирээдүйг өндөр хөгжилд
Mining The Resources
Minding the future
Local News

“Ovoot will be an exemplary project” 

B. Gerelnyam finds out from B.Erdenetosogt, Chief Geologist at Aspire Mining, about the company and the state of progress in its projects.

Please tell us briefly about the company.
Aspire Mining is a public company registered at the Australian Stock Exchange. Its operations in Mongolia began in 2010, and it has always tried to contribute to the social and economic development of Mongolia and to observe or even go beyond the high standards of environmental protection here. The company has more than 2,400 shareholders, the majority of them Mongolian, who together own more than 30 percent of shares.

How many licences does the company hold? 
When we began exploration work in 2010 in Tsetserleg, Tsagaan-Uul and Burentogtokh in Khuvsgul aimag, we owned 11 licences.  Now we hold 2 exploration and 2 extraction licences, 3 of them in Khuvsgul and the other in Uvs. The total area under these licences is 10% of what we had in 2010. 
  
About the Ovoot mine in Tsetserleg soum of Khuvsgul aimag: how big is it and is the quality of the coal like that from the Tavan Tolgoi mine? 
The resources at Ovoot were estimated in 2011 to be 192 mln tonnes. The width of the open mine is 1 km, and the length is around 1.8 km. The coking coal here is different from that of the Tavan Tolgoi mine. The Ovoot coal has very high purity, and is known as donor coal, meaning this is added and mixed in smaller quantities with cheaper coal to allow coking. This type of coal is thus in high demand and sells at a considerably higher price. 

How do you address the dust problem?
Dust is unavoidable in any open-pit mine. Even if it stays mostly inside the mine territory and does not travel far, it always has a negative effect on workers’ health, and it is essential to keep it within permitted safety standards. u
The most widely used method is sprinkling, but we are studying other ways which do not use water and shall choose the most suitable option at the Ovoot mine. 

Coal transport along unpaved roads also generates a lot of dust. This was the case in Umnugobi before hard paved roads were built. We are constructing such roads, and expect to finish the work before beginning extraction. 

How much water will you use?
No surface water will be used in our operations, which means that the Tes flowing close to the mine and other rivers and lakes nearby will not be affected. An independent professional institution will make a detailed study of the environmental impact of our operations on the area’s rivers, lakes, vegetation, animals, and people. Comments and suggestions from local citizens will be carefully considered and the findings of the study will be shared with them. 

The report on underground water sources will be ready this year and will be submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism for approval. Before the start of mining, we shall sign an agreement with the local government and local water management entities on use of water. Most of the water will be needed by the mine employees and not in the mine itself. The concentrator will require some water, but we shall be reusing more than 90 percent of it. Altogether, the total water consumption will not be very high.   

What are your plans for environmental rehabilitation? 
There are laws and regulations prescribing how companies should rehabilitate explored, and then excavated, territory. Failure to follow them leads to licences being revoked. We are yet to start extraction. But at the completion of exploration work in 2012 we did technical rehabilitation as also bio-rehabilitation in the form of successful re-vegetation. We observed Mongolian and international requirements on environmental protection at that time and shall show the same sense of responsibility during and after excavation work. A good mine closure plan requires a thorough environmental and social study of the territory, and we would welcome inputs and support from local citizens. 

How many jobs will be created at Ovoot and will local people be the majority in your work force?
Our concentrator construction will be in two main stages. The first stage will see 400 to 500 permanent new jobs while the second will require around 1,300 direct and indirect jobs. Most of them will be from Khuvsgul aimag, since our policy is to employ as many local citizens as possible and we shall arrange for them to be trained in skills needed during construction of the mine.  In this, we shall work in cooperation with professional vocational institutions and institutions of higher education in Murun and Erdenet.  

Will you also give priority to local entities when selecting food and clothing suppliers? 
Naturally, we wish to involve local citizens and entities in our operations, and so intend to purchase locally the personal protection equipment (PPE) made according to the right safety standards, as well as food items such as water, meat, milk, dairy products etc. complying with standards of hygiene. Here, too, we shall provide assistance to local citizens and entities by organizing training programmes.    

You plan to build a railway from Erdenet to Ovoot that will pass through several river basins, pasture land and territories rich in wildlife. What will you do to keep the negative impact low? 
Railroads are mostly built in low flatlands along river banks. For example, the Russian Trans-Siberian railroad was built along the banks of great Siberian rivers Yenisei, Ob, Irtysh and Angara, and of Lake Baikal. The high-speed railroad in China goes along the banks of the Yellow River and the Blue River. These days, when railroads are built, provision is made for migration pathways of wild animals. When building the railroad, Aspire Mining will follow all mandatory requirements of Mongolia and see to it that the impact on the environment and the ecology is minimal. Our foreign shareholders and investors will insist on even stricter standards. 

Have you started construction of the paved road?
Work on all pre-construction studies is going on, in compliance with the work order issued by the Ministry of Road and Transport Development. The land study is being done by ICT Sain Consulting, partner of our consulting contractor MIL. Currently, the preliminary studies on the 560-km hard paved road with two North and South alternatives connecting the Ovoot concentrator with Erdenet terminal are ready. Upon the completion of the feasibility study of the road, it will be presented for approval to the Science and Technology Council of the Mongolian Ministry of Road and Transport Development. 

What social responsibility programmes has Aspire taken up? 
We have not started operations and are yet to make any money, but as an act of social responsibility, we have already invested more than MNT600 million in the local community, primarily on health care, education, and environmental protection. Some of our social responsibility activities have been payment of students’ tuition fees, arranging health check-ups for local citizens, building a clinic, and organization of vocational trainings for unemployed citizens. Our company will continue to work with local organizations and to invest in health and education, and in reducing unemployment in the local community. When we start operations and start earning revenue, the range and scope of such work will increase. 

Aspire Mining strives to implement a responsible mining project which will be exemplary in Mongolia. It will boost socio-economic and infrastructure improvement and further development not only in Khuvsgul aimag, but in the entire North Region. We shall closely cooperate with local citizens to protect the cultural heritage of Khuvsgul.