The Mongolian Mining Journal

CEO Sam Walsh announces Rio Tinto will cut costs Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh announced that the company will seek to cut costs as demand for industrial commodities has dropped. The announcement comes as growth in China has slowed more than expected, declining to 7.7% from 7.9% the previous quarter.

BBC report blames Mongolian Government for potentially undermining mining boom In a piece entitled “Traditional Mongolia transformed by mining riches” which aired on Monday night, Justin Rowlatt, a journalist for the BBC’s Newsnight, reported that Mongolia has the opportunity to make all Mongolians materially better off because of the immense mineral wealth that the country possesses.

Will Rio Tinto’s Simandou project in Guinea move forward? Guinean former Minister of Mines Mahmoud Thiam claims that the Rio Tinto Group will likely suspend its efforts to develop one of the largest sources of iron ore in the world because the country’s government cannot afford to invest in needed transportation infrastructure.

Mongolia to help Japan reinvent itself Some four years ago, President Elbegdorj visited India, a country that does not make too many blips on the Mongolian political/economic radar.

Aspire considering small-scale, pre-rail, road-based operation Aspire Mining has issued an Interim Report on the operations in its four exploration projects in Mongolia, three of which (Ovoot, Nuramt, and Jilchigbulag) are focused on coking coal and the other (Zavkhan) on iron ore.

Coking coal export earned $590 million last year Minister for Mining D. Gankhuyag has reported that 31.1 million tons of coking coal was mined in 2012, of which 20.5 million tons was exported for approximately $590 million. Also, 14,483,138 barrels or about 2.3 million tons of crude oil was drilled, of which 14,090,509 barrels were exported for MNT332.3 billion.

“Why should the State build a railway?” B.Purevbaatar, Head of the Mongolian Railway Engineering Association, tells MMJ what is wrong with the State policy on railway and why there has been no progress in building the railway.

International Conference & Expo on Coal Beneficiation (ICECB) 18th April 2013 New Delhi, India

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.

World CTL 2013 16th April 2013 Shanghai, China

23rd International Mining Congress and Exhibition of Turkey 16th April 2013 Antalya, Turkey

11th Coaltrans China 16th April 2013 Beijing, China

Botswana Coal and Energy Conference 16th April 2013 Gaborone, Botswana

Iran announces it is mining and processing uranium in spite of stiff global sanctions On National Nuclear Technology Day in Iran, the government celebrated by announcing the full operation of Ardakan Yellowcake Production Plant, which is located in Yazd province in central Iran. It will process approximately 60 tons of uranium annually excavated from Saghand 1 and 2, two nearby mines.

Bauma 2013 15th April 2013 Munich, Germany

Mine Water Solutions in Extreme Environments 15th April 2013 Lima, Peru

MINING AND LOCAL RESIDENTS It is January in the Gobi. The sun shines brightly as only it can in the Gobi. We encounter local people speaking in aphorisms, great Gobi’s brave hearted camel herdsman, and a paleontologist who guards footprints of dinosaurs in Shar Tsav. We hear a tale about a powerful wrestler whose name was Ider Dampil.

A rash of mining accidents in China is raising safety and environmental concerns On the first day of April, six coal miners died after an explosion in Jilin province in northeast China, where only 3 days earlier twenty-eight miners had perished.

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.

“Growth must not be mistaken for true development” Known for his incisive analysis and independent views as well as for the no-nonsense way in which he expresses them, Byambasuren Dash, the 17th Prime Minister of Mongolia, tells N.Ariuntuya what he thinks of what is presently happening in the mining sector.