The Mongolian Mining Journal

Bilateral ties through Russian envoy’s eyes The Russia-Mongolia intergovernmental commission recently held its 21st meeting, where important issues were raised, as between two old friends, and important decisions taken, as would take the partnership forward in challenging times. E.Odjargal talks to long-time Russian Ambassador to Mongolia.

Coal export rises in March after big dip The 7.9 million tonnes of coal exported in the first quarter was 2.62% less than in the corresponding period last year, but things have begun to look up as exports for March, the last month in that quarter, showed an increase of 7.8% YoY.

“Easy for ETT to raise funds on its own, but it is too early for an IPO” A mega project cannot be developed without mega investment, so where is the money going to come from if Mongolia is to present Tavan Tolgoi as one of the major mineral deposits of the world?

Fate of TT power plant hinges on RIO TINTO decision How Oyu Tolgoi LLC decides to source the electricity to meet the needs of its mine will also decide the fate of the Tavan Tolgoi power plant, a proposed mega project that would meet the power needs of both industrial and domestic users across a large swathe of the country.

Big fall in trade surplus, coal main culprit According to data revealed by the National Statistics Office, Mongolia’s exports in the first two months of 2018 were valued at $838.4 million, while imports stood at $726 million, taking total trade turnover to $1.6 billion, which is 18.9% or $248.1 million more than the corresponding figure in the previous year.

United, Mongolia would compete divided, it falls Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh, who is to pay an official visit to China on 10-13 April, will be followed there by President Kh.Battulga in June, the dates yet to be decided.

Gold-2: Good ideas poorly implemented G.Iderkhangai finds out from E.Enkhbat, Executive Director of the Gold Producers’ Association, why the sector thinks the Gold-2 programme is good on paper but poor in execution.

Call for “win-win partnership” douses tensions, for now Not many were convinced that the brief, and somewhat sudden, visit to Mongolia by Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques was solely or really to inaugurate on 22 January the company’s new office in Mongolia, separate from Oyu Tolgoi LLC. Such events do not usually warrant the presence of the chief executive of a global giant.

“We need a state policy built on national consensus” When P.Ochirbat, the country’s first President, academician and mining engineer, speaks, Mongolia listens. In a wide-ranging conversation with G.Iderkhangai, he speaks about issues in the mining sector.

Gold sector needs both State support and self-support Some long-awaited amendments to the Mineral Law on 24 January, 2014 finally brought cheer to the gold sector. Royalty rates were reduced to 2.5 percent, the system of progressive royalties was withdrawn, and Mongolbank was made responsible for refining and exporting all gold mined in Mongolia.

Mega wait for mega projects could end in 2018 Mongolians are happy to endlessly talk about their successes, and to rest on them. Thus it is no surprise that they are still full of how good 2017 was for the mining industry and exports revenue.

OT gold output to double in 2018 Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce 125,000 to 155,000 tonnes of copper and 240,000 to 280,000 ounces of gold in concentrates in 2018, according to a production and financial guidance released by Rio Tinto-controlled Canadian miner Turquoise Hill,

Copper will take the crown from coal in 2018 For Mongolia, 2017 ended as the year of Mr Coal. Economic growth surpassed expectations mainly because coal exports earned revenue beyond projection, despite an unanticipated slowdown in the second half of the year.

Group studies the economics of water, and is worried Mongolia has two major water consumption areas – Ulaanbaatar and the southern Gobi region. The first has population pressure, while the second is where mining and economic activity will become more and more intense.

Happy with performance, IMF sees higher growth for Mongolia Mongolia can now draw $79.1 million more from the IMF program’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF), bringing total disbursement under the arrangement to $118.6 million, of a maximum possible $425 million.

A mining-eye view of the year that was Looking back at 2017 as a whole, one sees it as a year of both positives and negatives for the country’s development, and also as a period when the mining sector was kept busy throughout.

Caterpillar is expanding as a technology company The Wagner Asia Equipment LLC, top position in Mongolian mining and infrastructure sector, has new goals and plans for the upcoming year.

Modern Mongolian mining is 95 years young The Mongolian extractive sector, in its modern avatar, completed 95 years in 2017. Archaeological relics indicate that Mongolians practised mining 5000 years ago, but scientific mining began in 1922, with the post-People’s Revolution government deciding to commence coal extraction work at Nalaikh.

Major changes in licence allocation process Some basic features of the system of issuing mining licences, in force for the past 20 years, have now been changed. Allocation after application is out, replaced by a selection process.

Shanxi likely to buy more Mongolian coking coal Shanxi province in Central China has 55 percent of the total coking coal reserves in the country and produces 40.74 percent of the country’s coking coal -- the raw material to produce coke – but even then it now looks set to become a major purchaser of Mongolian coking coal, as Shanxi’s coking industry is being expanded in a big way.