Mongolia is an important partner with great potential - we want to cooperate in the future, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday after meeting his Mongolian counterpart Uchnaagijn Chürelsüch in Ulaanbaatar.

Earlier, the presidents signed a number of agreements on economic cooperation, including in the fields of natural resources and science.

During the briefing, President Duda expressed hope that his visit will lead to a revival of Polish-Mongolian relations. He estimated that the signed agreements will bring tangible benefits to both countries.

He stressed that Mongolia is a very important partner, with great potential and is rich in natural resources. “We want cooperation with Mongolia in the future,” he declared.

Duda reported that his conversation with the Mongolian president also concerned political cooperation and the difficult international situation, which has been complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian aggression against Ukraine.

He also thanked the Mongolian president for the humanitarian assistance provided to Kyiv and announced the opening of a Polish embassy in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar.

source: PAP, IAR

The expansive desert region in northern China and the southern Mongolia is the second cause of the sandstorms. According to the Desertification Survey of Mongolia in 2015, 77.8 percent of Mongolia’s land is degraded, with 35.3 percent slightly degraded, 25.9 percent moderately degraded, and 6.7 percent and 9.9 percent severely and extremely degraded respectively.

The survey’s results also show the overall area of desertification in Mongolia has not decreased, and the degree of desertification varies from region to region.

As of today, desertification is particularly serious in the Dundgovi, Uvurkhangai, Govisumber, Dornogovi, Bayankhongor, Tuv, Govi-Altai and Umnugovi provinces.

Although the most important measures to combat desertification in China over the past two decades, such as the environmental protection plan as part of the Three-North Shelterbelt Project, have produced remarkable results, the frequent occurrence of sandstorms this spring shows ecological protection needs to be further strengthened, especially through deeper cooperation between China and Mongolia on desertification control.

During Mongolian President U.Khurelsukh’s visit to China in 2022, the two heads of state agreed to strengthen cooperation on environmental protection and desertification control. And President Xi Jinping expressed support for Mongolia’s “One Billion Trees” campaign, which is aimed at combating desertification, yellow dust storms, and land degradation. This is a good start for the two countries’ high-level exchanges and cooperation on environmental protection and desertification control.

China and Mongolia should establish a special fund to jointly deal with regional environmental issues such as desertification control. This is important also because of the high environmental similarity between northern, central and western Inner Mongolia in China and the Gobi region in southern Mongolia. Also, the joint fund should support Chinese universities and environmental research institutions to provide necessary technical and program support for Mongolia’s environmental protection and sustainable development.

Besides, China should encourage researchers to visit Mongolia and spread knowledge about desertification and teach the people how to control desertification.

I hope that the Polish embassy in Mongolia will be an accelerator of economic relations between the two countries - it will perform all consular functions, such as issuing visas to those who want to go to Poland, Polish President Andrzej Duda said during the opening of the Polish embassy in Ulaanbaatar.

“It is a great satisfaction for me,” Duda emphasized, also expressing hope that his visit to Mongolia will contribute to the development of economic contacts between the two countries.

“We are very much counting on Poland to appear here in Mongolia as the country that has significant experience in the geological, mining industry. There are powerful deposits of natural resources here, especially rare metals… I hope that the international agreements signed today will result in the development of relations precisely in this area,” he went on to say.

The president has been on a visit to Mongolia since Monday, where, among other things, he met with President Uchnaagijn Chürelsüch.

Poland and Mongolia established diplomatic relations back in 1950.

The official restoration of Poland’s permanent diplomatic presence in the country took place on March 18, 2021, with the arrival in Ulan-Bator of Ambassador Krzysztof Bojko. Until that time, the embassy had remained closed since 2009.

source: PAP, IAR

The Chilean government’s plan to demand a controlling stake in all future lithium projects will deter investment and risks stalling the clean energy transition, according to Canadian mining billionaire Robert Friedland.

The announcement, which sent share prices of Chilean lithium companies tumbling on Friday, would be “quite challenging for international capital, and it makes it harder to invest in Chile,” the chairman of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. said in an interview.

“Money is a coward — it runs away at the first sign of trouble.”

Demand for lithium, a core ingredient in electric vehicle batteries, is set to soar in the coming decades as automakers move away from gasoline and diesel powered models. Chile is the world’s second-biggest producer of the metal, and President Gabriel Boric is seeking a bigger role for the state in the sector, while also trying to build a domestic processing industry and protect the environment.

The policy bears some similarities to what President Joko Widodo is trying to do with nickel in Indonesia.

Santiago’s move will undermine Chile’s reputation as one of the safer places for foreign investors in Latin America and amounts to “nationalization” of the country’s lithium sector, Friedland said. The mining magnate has been involved in developing some of the world’s biggest copper deposits including Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia and Kamoa-Kakula in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It’s “likely to set the government back a long ways – denying companies like Rio Tinto and Teck and BHP to come in there and invest,” Friedland said. “That will not end well, in my estimation.”

Governments are inefficient miners, and it was “much more efficient” to encourage the private sector to invest, he said, adding that “ill-considered” nationalist policies risked derailing the clean energy transition.

Santiago’s new policy comes as proposed mining royalty hikes in Chile, social unrest in Peru and the threat of tax increases in Panama have delayed copper projects in those countries and spooked investors. Copper, like lithium, is a core ingredient in clean energy applications and Chile and Peru are the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 producers of the metal.

(By James Fernyhough)

President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh and President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda took part in the ceremony of signing cooperation documents in the Great Hall of State Ceremonies and Honors. Afterward, President of Mongolia U. Khurelsukh and President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda briefed the media representatives in the Baganat Hall.

President of Mongolia U. Khurelsukh spoke,"… I consider the official talks with the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda to be of high significance and important outcomes.

The heads of state of our two countries have been visiting each other every 5-10 years. I believe that President Andrzej Duda's visit, 10 years after the last visit will be plainly written in the history of relations between the two countries, and it will be a historically significant and solid basis for further development of traditionally friendly relations and cooperation between our two countries.

During the talks, we discussed the consequences, conditions and solutions of major social and economic challenges caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic, and complicated international relations and geopolitical situation faced by the countries in the world in the last three years, and agreed to overcome the difficulties with joint efforts and determination. The Republic of Poland is one of the third neighbors and close partners of our country, and relations and cooperation between the two countries have continuously and actively developed even in hard times. I am happy that upon its decision to open Polish Embassy in our country, officially opening it as part of this State visit.

The relations between the Parliaments, Governments, state institutions, citizens, entrepreneurs, and wealth creators of the two countries are in active motion, and the trade turnover of the two countries has doubled in the last three years. We always remember and are grateful that before 1990, Poland constructed many factories and plants, such as a silicate-lime factory in Darkhan, a silicate brick factory in Choibalsan, a lightweight concrete block factory, and a wood processing plant in Ulaanbaatar, and thermal power plant in Kharkhorin. We agreed to further increase the trade and investment of the two countries, expand and develop cooperation in the areas of road, transport, education, geology, mining, culture, and environment, and in implementing major construction projects for sustainable development.

The trade volume between China and Mongolia via Ganqmod Port, the largest highway port between the two countries, has surpassed 10 million tonnes so far this year, the port's administration authority said on Monday.

Situated in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Ganqmod Port handled approximately 10.02 million tonnes of goods from Jan. 1 to April 22, with a daily average of 112,600 tonnes.

Ganqmod Port is the first highway port in the region to reach the 10-million-tonne mark in 2023, hitting the target nearly four months earlier than in 2022.

The port has been striving to raise its clearance efficiency by implementing more measures to facilitate trade, said the administration authority.

Ganqmod Port is a major energy import channel for the country, and an important hub on the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor.

Fitch Ratings has assigned coal producer Mongolian Mining Corporation’s (MMC) proposed US dollar notes a ‘B’ rating with an expected Recovery Rating of ‘RR4′. The proposed notes will be issued by MMC and its wholly owned subsidiary Energy Resources LLC, and guaranteed by most of its operating subsidiaries.

The notes will constitute senior unsecured obligations of MMC as they represent its unsecured and unsubordinated obligations.

Net proceeds from this issuance will be used to fund a concurrent tender offer for liability management purposes and will be leverage neutral. We expect successful issuance of the notes to alleviate the company’s medium-term funding needs for its USD350 million 2024 notes redemption.

The new notes will be used to pay the tender price of any 2024 notes tendered in a concurrent tender and exchange offer. The tender offer has a maximum tender cap equal to the new notes issued.

MMC’s 2024 notes’ outstanding balance is USD350 million at 21 March 2023. The cash balance has increased to over USD200 million, from USD65 million at end-2022, based on Fitch’s Estimate, indicating strong cash generation in 1Q23. We expect around USD300 million EBITDA in the next 12 months.

MMC’s core coking-coal operation has normalised amid stabilisation in the border situation. The average daily throughput rose to over 900 trucks in March 2023, surpassing the pre-Covid level, from around 120 trucks in 1Q22. MMC ramped up processing volume to 3.1 million tonnes in 1Q23 from 0.9 million tonnes in 1H22. We expect the realised average selling prices (ASP) for washed hard coking coal to increase to over USD160/tonne in 2023, from the 2022 average of USD147/tonnes.

MMC is small by revenue compared with Fitch-rated coal miners globally. Hard coking coal accounted for over 95% of MMC’s total revenue in 2021. Its latest coal reserve statements show total marketable coal reserves of just under 400 million tonnes, or a reserve life of around 35 years.

Mongolia will have its first oil refinery up and running by 2025. The first phase of the $1.2 billion Indian soft loan-funded Mongol Oil Refinery will be finished by the end of the year. Given that Russia is the only source of energy imports for Mongolia, the development has strategic ramifications.

Mongolia refinery to be built by India by 2025: Key Points

The refinery will enable Mongolia to satisfy 70% of its domestic demand.

According to the nation’s ambassador, Dambajav Ganbold, the first oil refinery in Mongolia, which is being constructed on the outskirts of the capital city of Ulaanbaatar with funding from India, would be finished by 2025.

Mongolia also intends to entice investment from India in its mining and metals industries with intentions to start shipping coking coal to India by 2024.

What all Mongolia have to offer?

Important rare earth metals are also found in Mongolia, which may be essential to India’s plans to develop cutting-edge technical capabilities in semiconductors and sustainable transportation.

Indian businesses have already travelled to Mongolia to investigate these possibilities. It is anticipated that regular direct flights between Mongolia and India will be established in order to enable these exchanges.

India is Mongolia’s significant “third neighbour” in this area. This is one of the foreign policy’s key ideas, and it first came up because of Mongolia’s two large neighbours, Russia and China.

So, in order for Mongolia to be an independent state, it is needed to establish contact with a third neighbour.

This provides Mongolia the chance to expand and strengthen collaboration both locally and globally.

Since Prime Minister Modi’s historic visit to Mongolia in 2015, the governments have agreed to build the country’s first oil refinery.

This refinery project, which comprises four packages, is currently in full swing.

Right now, the first package, or EPC 1, is more than 70% finished, and it will be finished this year.

Following the tender procedure for the final three packages, Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited was chosen.

Mongolia’s Independence and energy security will increase thanks to the refinery