Petro Matad Limited (LON:MATD) expects to kick off its new exploration drilling campaign in Mongolia during the second quarter following the receipt of drill permits.

A recent US$16.8mln equity funding is to pay for four new wells. The first, the Wild Horse exploration well, located in Block IV, is going to be drilled by a contracted Sinopec rig.

Wild Horse is targeting a 290mln barrel oil prospect. The well is expected to be drilled and log in 30-45 days, and it is expected to cost US$4mln.

Petro Matad chief executive Mike Buck described it as “a very exciting time” for the company as it advances towards “one of the highest impact drilling campaigns” by an independent explorer in Mongolia.

“We are now deep into the preparation phase to spud our first well at Wild Horse-1 in Q2 2018.

“We are pleased to see that rig availability for our planned drilling in Block XX looks good. I look forward to updating the market on our progress as our preparations for this highly active year continue".

After Wild Horse, the Sinopec rig will move on to drill the Falcon prospect, in Block V.

As preparations advance, meanwhile, Petro Matad is “making progress” in its efforts to secure a drill rig for two more planned wells which will be drilled in Block XX and are pencilled in for the second half of the year.

At the same time, the company continues to await processed data from recently acquired 2D and 3D seismic exploration. Petro Matad told investors that the data quality seen to date has been “very good” and the final products are anticipated before the end of this quarter.

Some members of Mongolia's parliament sought to limit the number of new resident permits granted to foreign or stateless people to 100 per year in a bid to protect domestic jobs in the resource-rich country.

But the proposal has been rejected, and the existing system of quotas on specific business sectors will continue, an official with the immigration authority said.

"We don't have a national quota for 2018," the official said.

Last Friday, about 67 per cent of parliament voted against further discussions on capping the number of immigrants. The vote was one of last made before parliament adjourned for the Lunar New Year holiday.

The former Soviet satellite state, squeezed between Russia and China and rich in gold and copper, has sought to encourage free trade since its transition to democracy in 1990, but it has been careful to resist any influx in foreign labourers. Immigrants currently make up less than 0.4 per cent of the population.

Last year, Mongolia cut its foreign workforce in half, and sent home about 1,200 North Korean workers. The Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine, run by mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, has also been under scrutiny for its use of Chinese labourers.

With just 3.1 million people in an area almost the size of Alaska, Mongolia is the world's least densely populated country.

Mongolia saw its economy rebound after a small crisis last year following the approval of a US$5.5 billion economic bailout from the International Monetary Fund and partners. The assistance has helped the country pay off its sovereign debt and stabilised the local currency, the tugrik.

The IMF last week said Mongolia was on course to receive another tranche of the bailout package after concluding in a regular fiscal assessment that the country had met key fiscal deficit targets while strong international commodity demand was aiding the country's recovery.

Mongolia's budget for 2018 is projected 4.2 trillion tugrik (US$1.75 billion) in GDP growth, with a budget surplus of 9.6 trillion tugrik, said the parliament’s chairman, Miyeegombyn Enkhbold, in his closing address last Friday.

(US$1 = 2,398 tugrik)

(Reporting by Terrence Edwards; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: Reuters

The pilot project will kickoff in the Tuv Province, a province outside of the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, and include cooperation from Korea, Ghana, and Mongolia. Immediate tasks include conducting feasibility reports and helping government monitoring and inspection of pharmacies, and pharmaceutical supply chains, including warehouses and retailers.

FarmaTrust CEO, Raja Sharif, explains, “This project is a great multinational collaboration to mix blockchain and other emerging technologies to secure and optimize the pharmaceutical supply chain. Mongolia is a great starting point. With a population of just 3 million, tracking and implementation can quickly scale on the national level. Mongolia is also important as a strategic middle point between Russia and China, two countries that have experienced large amounts of counterfeit medicine in the past.”

FarmaTrust is providing the knowledge and experience in blockchain supply chain tracking with the goal of creating an immutable ledger that can track and secure pharmaceutical supply chains using big data and artificial intelligence. FarmaTrust has received widespread support from major media and organizations interested in helping eliminate the counterfeit pharmaceutical industry that results in over 120,000 deaths per year.

Dayan blasted the last bench Jan. 13 after a lengthy shaft-sinking program that endured a number of prolonged work shutdowns at the project.

The milestone was “…made all the more impressive by the exceptional safety performance,” stated Turquois Hill Resources project director Michel Charron

Oyu Tolgoi’s 2 shaft is a combined skipping and service shaft which will support the early development and extraction activities at the South Hugo Dummett block cave mine.

Situated in the south Gobi Desert, DCM employed approximately 200 Mongolian nationals to make up 75 per cent of the shaft workforce in order to complete the construction project.

In addition to shaft sinking efforts, nearly 135,000 cubic metres of mass excavation has been completed in order to support the high tonnage installations yet to be completed.

The Dayan team is currently focusing on the installation of the 7.2-metres diameter production friction hoist and 6.75-metre diameter service hoist installation atop the concrete headframe, concurrent with shaft outfitting efforts.

Once complete, this installation will be one of the largest of its kind in the world, capable of hoisting 30,000 tons per day in rock, and transporting people and supplies via the 24.3-square-metre service cage.

Bank officials say these currencies are not recognized as legal tender, and there is no law to regulate them.

The central bank said on Monday it had instructed banks and credit card firms not to engage in investment or trading in digital currencies.

The central bank also asked financial institutions not to allow customers to use credit cards to buy virtual currencies, and not to give advice about investment in cryptocurrencies.

The administration is working towards introduction of bike rental service in Ulaanbaatar, following the examples of major cities around the world.

Individuals and entities interested in working on the project will have to submit their plan to the Mayor’s Office until March 1. The plan should cover aspects including the number of bicycles, location, technical solution, quality and technical indicators of the rental bicycles, rental payment value, introduction of monitoring system, maintenance service and operations and finance.
Kh.Aminaa

The project has 8 fundamental principles based on Mongolia’s features and experiences of developed countries and reflects major government actions for sustainable economic growth, said the director of Research and Statistics Department of the Bank of Mongolia, D.Gan-Ochir.

“Mongolia must conduct a proper budget policy. In other words, the Government should invest revenue from mining and other sectors in personal and infrastructure development. It is extremely important to improve human development or the people’s education. Educated people will work in multiple sectors developing multi-pillar economy. In addition, the exchange rate policy must be flexible. This will allow to overcome any exchange rate related difficulties with minimal loss. On the other hand, employment should be increased. Mongolia must have a fair multiple tax system to eliminate income difference. Generally the project presented today includes all of the above mentioned. So we’ll support the project” said the IMF Resident Representative for Mongolia, Neil Saker.

The suggestions and conclusions made by the professional organizations during the discussion will be included in the ‘Ulaanbaatar consonance’ project and submitted to decision makers.

B.Misheel

At the press conference, the Mining and Heavy Industry Minister D.Sumiyabazar briefed about last year’s report on the sector and plans for 2018.

For instance, the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority expects to accumulate MNT291.8 billion at the state budget in 2018, of which MNT223.4 billion will come from oil export. As of January, 2018 the sector accumulated MNT21.9 billion, of which MNT19.2 billion came from oil export.

In 2018, it is planned to extract 8.1 million barrel or 1.1 million tons oil, accumulating MNT223.4 billion at the state budget. As of February 1, 2018, it has extracted 616.8 thousand barrel or 83.6 thousand tons of oil, with a 7.6 percent fulfillment of the plan. Moreover, 558.2 thousand barrel or 75.7 thousand tons oil were exported. The oil export in January brought MNT19.2 billion to the state budget.

In addition, the Minister said that Mongolia has a reserve of oil products equal to 38-days’ consumption by February 5, 2018.

M.Unurzul

The revised Regulation on Security registration has improved the regulation of double registration of securities and made registration process accord with the international common practice. It is notable that major reforms have been made n the Regulation on Security index calculation including detailed regulation of the index calculator and classification index calculation.

The Securities trading regulation has amendments such as defining closing price at the weighted average trading over the last one-hour to make the closing price more realistic.

The revised and amended regulations will be effective from February 19.
B.Misheel