The Cabinet has decided to spend MNT 6.5 billion from the government’s reserve fund to keep the price of diesel fuel at the same level as it was during the last spring’s sowing.

The price of diesel fuel was MNT 3,380 per liter during the last sowing season. However, it is MNT 4,030 today, increasing by 19.6 percent. An average of 20-25 thousand tons of fuel is needed every spring sowing and autumn harvesting. The price of 10 thousand tons of diesel will be kept at the same level as the last spring’s sowing.

The decision is aimed at keeping the price of wheat, flour, and other food products stable, highlighted the Minister of Agriculture and Light Industry Z.Mendsaikhan.

This year, sowing has been made to 478.7 thousand hectares nationwide, of which grain in 347.7 thousand hectares (wheat in 331.0 thousand hectares), potatoes in 17.9 thousand hectares, vegetables in 7.9 thousand hectares, fodder plants in 16.8 thousand hectares, and oil plants in 81.2 thousand hectares.

A week ago, I went on a trip to Mongolia. The country was more vibrant than ever, as if the pandemic was already well in the past. The impetus for this particular trip was Dr. Yeosang Yoon and his team’s research on the lives and human rights situation of overseas North Korean workers, which was published by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) back in 2016. Between sanctions against North Korea and the pandemic, I naturally wanted to get out in the field and investigate how the North Korean workers dispatched to Mongolia were faring. Ultimately, I found that due to sanctions there were no North Korean workers officially staying in Mongolia.

North Korean labor in Mongolia can be broadly divided into three types. First, there are those working and running North Korean restaurants, much like the kinds operated in China, Russia, and parts of Southeast Asia. Second, there are workers dispatched to construction projects in urban areas, such as Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. Third, there are the workers dispatched to factories manufacturing cashmere, one of Mongolia’s key industries.

As for North Korean restaurants in Mongolia, there used to be three thriving restaurants operating in central Ulaanbaatar under the names “Pyongyang Baekhwagwan,” “Pyongyang Restaurant,” and “Pyongyang Koryo Folk Restaurant.” I verified that none of these three restaurants were operating. At “Pyongyang Baekhwagwan,” the restaurant sign had an “under construction” notice still up, and new shops had moved into the locations of the other two restaurants. According to a source in Mongolia, the North Korean embassy in Mongolia owned “Pyongyang Baekhwagwan,” which meant that it was not completely shut down; rather, it had temporarily suspended operations. The source also told me that the restaurant’s sign remained up and embassy officials regularly came by to inspect the shops.

Meanwhile, construction workers have become scarce in Mongolia, at least officially. In Russia, crowded flights and trains prevented some workers from returning to North Korea following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even now, some workers are tacitly employed on house remodeling projects and other small-scale construction projects. However, North Korea had already officially pulled workers out of the country before the UN-mandated deadline of December 22, 2019. Since then, COVID-19 has made it difficult for North Korea to send large numbers of workers to the country.

A photo of the Pyongyang Baekhwagwan restaurant. The photo on the left shows a note saying the restaurant is closed for construction work. (Kang Dong Wan)

North Korea’s largely female workforce in Mongolia’s cashmere factories has also disappeared. During my trip, I paid a visit to a cashmere factory that had once employed about eight hundred North Korean workers. Factory officials there told me that they no longer employ North Korean laborers. I found that the situation at local hospitals was much the same. North Korean doctors, who had primarily practiced traditional Korean medicine such as acupuncture and physical therapy, had all left the country. On the signboard advertising the hospital, only the North Korean and Mongolian flags hanging side-by-side remained and there were no North Korean doctors to be found. Was that why nothing but a sense of desolation seemed to hang over the North Korean embassy in the heart of downtown Ulaanbaatar?

Some people are calling for sanctions on North Korea to be lifted. However, we need to look back on why North Korea was slapped with sanctions in the first place. The sanctions began with North Korea’s nuclear tests and long-range missile launches. We shouldn’t view the issue as one where an innocent North Korea is suffering because of sanctions. Rather than look at our government or international society as imposing unjust pressure or sanctions, we would be better served by urging North Korean authorities to quickly suspend nuclear development and set out on the path towards economic reforms and opening.

Finally, I took a walk through Mongolia’s desert. I had heard testimony from a defector who had spent weeks crossing the desert without so much as a drop of water and knew I had to try walking in their shoes. After only a few steps, I had sunk up to my ankles in a sand trap; it was so hard to breathe I felt like I would die! I had imagined something romantic, looking up at the Milky Way and casting my body away into the starlight, but this was no such place. In short, the desert made me feel like I was standing at the crossroads between life and death.

I felt utterly ashamed and contrite in the face of those defectors. I had come to understand just a fraction of what it must have been like to walk and walk for days across the desert chasing their hope for freedom. In the desert, where a single step can decide life or death, just how many defectors have disappeared into the darkness? Even now, the procession of defectors continues. The Kim Jong Un regime has doggedly pursued nuclear weapons with no end in sight to the barrage of tests. What we need right now is not unconditional dialogue. As for our deference towards Kim Jong Un and efforts to curry favor with the regime, the last five years have been sufficient. You can’t speak of peace with nuclear weapons balanced on your head. Standing in the middle of Mongolia’s desert, I was hit by this simple truth: we must make improving North Korean human rights our foremost priority and work to expand liberal democratic values in the country. With this renewed conviction, I returned home.

Translated by Rose Adams

Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.

The Office of President of Mongolia, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the United Nations and UNA Mongolia are launching the UN Youth Delegate - Environmental Leadership program in August 2022 to enable youth to participate in biodiversity and to bring their voices to the national and global decision-making levels.

The program will select 30 young people aged from 18 to 30 who will be able to attend seminars on various environmental issues for two months and implement an environmentally friendly project. The top two participants will have the opportunity to represent Mongolian youth at UN international conferences in Egypt and Canada.

Once the UN Youth Delegates attend the conferences, they jointly organize a National Youth Dialogue to share their knowledge and identify opportunities and next steps for youth participation in protecting the environment.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Wang Yi will pay an official visit to Mongolia in August. During today’s press conference to present the decisions made at the Cabinet meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs B.Battsetseg briefed on the upcoming visit.

The visit is expected to mainly focus on strengthening Mongolia-China comprehensive strategic partnership and holding talks on economic cooperation and operations of border checkpoints.

The exact date of the visit will be decided by the two countries in the near future, said the Minister.

MBD's official partner, one of the leading taxpayers (TOP 10) of Mongolia, Shunkhlai Holding LLC welcomes potential candidates to the following open positions at the group companies.

Shunkhlai LLC was established in 1993 with its first operations in the area of vehicle repair services and petroleum product import and distribution, it later diversified its operations into the food industry, information technology, telecommunication, real estate, convenient store chain, media, automobile distribution, and technology and it employs more than 5000 people in its over 30 main and sub businesses.

Please visit the following link for TOR and information in detail about each position. http://mongolianbusinessdatabase.com/base/jobs

Graphic designer (Media Group LLC)

Video Editor ("Media Group" LLC)

Project administrator (SD Engineering and Construction LLC)

Union alarm control engineer ("SD Engineering and Construction" LLC)

Equipment Manager (Digital Concept LLC)

Chief technologist of food production (Digital Concept LLC)

Head of Food Production (Digital Concept LLC)

Human resource manager (Digital concept LLC)

Payroll Manager (Digital Concept LLC)

Senior Training Manager (Shunkhlai LLC)

Director of Human Resources (Digital Concept LLC)

Legal advisor (Digital Concept LLC)

Cleaning service worker (SD service LLC)

Erdene Resource Development Corporation (TSX: ERD) has expanded known mineralisation at the Ulaan SE discovery to the west and at depth with the Q2 2022 drill programme located 300 metres west of the construction ready Bayan Khundii Gold Project in southwest Mongolia.

This programme also intersected an interpreted high-grade, gold bearing “feeder” structure. Follow-up exploration at Ulaan SE is currently underway.

Highlights

UDH-53 returned high-grade mineralization within a projected feeder zone, including 2 metres of 24.9 g/t gold within 27 metres of 3.47 g/t gold

UDH-52, 60 metres SSE of UDH-53, intersected a wide zone of mineralisation – 189 metres averaging 0.8 g/t gold

Mineralization at Ulaan SE has been traced over a 200 metre strike, to a depth of 450 metres, that remains open to the west and at depth; highlights of Q2 drilling include:

UDH-35 included the highest average grade intersection to date at Ulaan SE

Intersected 23 metres of 13.7 g/t gold within 41 metres of 8.1 g/t gold, beginning 187 metres downhole

UDH-21, including the hole extension, returned one of the thickest gold zones in the Khundii District

Intersected 335 metres of 1.1 g/t gold, beginning 115 metres downhole, ending in mineralization

Includes 27 metres of 8.7 g/t gold, within 77 metres of 3.2 g/t gold

UDH-36 intersected 179 metres of 1.2 g/t gold, beginning 72 metres downhole

Includes several one-metre, high-grade intersections, ranging from 10-33 g/t gold, and ending in mineralization at 350 metres

“Ulaan drilling has returned very high grade zones in the feeder structure as well as exceptionally thick zones of mineralisation, exceeding 300 metres, which remain open, in the core of the discovery,” President and CEO, Peter Akerley, said.

“This newest Khundii District discovery is interpreted as the western extension of the Bayan Khundii deposit, demonstrating the resource expansion potential from deeper exploration in the District.

“In the past week, we launched a follow-up exploration program. The outcome of this programme as well as the results from the recently completed regional reverse-circulation (RC) programme, will focus our exploration work for the balance of 2022.

“We are confident that we are well on our way to achieving our two million ounce gold equivalent resource target by the end of the year.”

For further information please visit: https://erdene.com/

At least six child jockeys have died during horse races in Mongolia so far this year, the country's Authority for Family, Child and Youth Development said Tuesday.

The statement came after a 10-year-old girl jockey died during a horse race in Tuvshinshiree soum of the eastern province of Sukhbaatar on Monday.

Many small and large horse races are held throughout the year in Mongolia. During the horse races, over 290 child jockeys have been seriously or slightly injured, the authority said.

By law, the minimum age of child jockeys is eight years old. However, the rule is not applied to all horse races in the country.

VANCOUVER, BC, July 26, 2022 /CNW/ - Kincora Copper Limited (the Company, Kincora) (TSXV: KCC) (TSXV: ASX) is pleased to note the maiden Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (Resource, MRE) and updated Exploration Target for the West Kasulu prospect reported under the JORC Code by Resilience Mining Mongolia Limited (Resilience)1. The majority of the MRE and Exploration Target are situated within the existing Bronze Fox mining license with the balance being on the adjoining Tourmaline Hills exploration licence (collectively the Bronze Fox project).

Mineral resource and updated exploration target for Bronze Fox (CNW Group/Kincora Copper Limited)

Sam Spring, President & CEO, commented:

"The Bronze Fox project consists of one of the largest copper-gold systems in Mongolia with only modest drilling having been completed. The consolidated West Kasulu prospect has only had three years of unimpeded prior drilling activity, and is located on the margin of and is a small portion of one of three large and underexplored intrusive complexes identified to date at the Bronze Fox project.

The MRE, for the at and near surface portions of West Kasulu, and an Exploration Target, for the deeper part of the system, under the JORC Code1, has been commissioned and paid for by Resilience and reflect the proposed strategy to focus on, and derive value from, the potential for early development of the near surface oxide resource and shallow porphyry expansion potential, while seeking partners to fund deeper drilling. It is pleasing to see the scale of previous exploration efforts at West Kasulu further quantified, with the system remaining open along strike and at depth.

As noted in our July 8th press release, Kincora remains committed to extracting appropriate value from our wholly owned Mongolian assets for the benefit of our shareholders and seeing the projects move forward. We have worked with Resilience for a significant period of time, the door is still open to them, as our strategy remains focused towards active and systematic exploration activities in Australia."

1 The MRE and Exploration Target have been prepared by independent consultant DG & JG Larsen Consulting Pty Ltd and are reported in accordance with the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves 2012 (JORC Code), and is not based on Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) definitions, and as a result the estimate is not recognized under National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators (NI 43-101).

On China's doorstep, trucking distance to the world's largest copper consumer

Recent significant investments in the Southern Gobi porphyry belt:

Oyu Tolgoi partners reach comprehensive agreement and approve commencement of underground mining operations (estimated total capex US$6.9 billion) – January 2022

Rio Tinto's US$2.7 billion cash offer to acquire remaining 49% of Turquoise Hill Resources and thereby increase its effective ownership in the Oyu Tolgoi project – March 2022

Xanadu Mining and its flagship Kharmagtai project, total staged investment of up to A$58 million from Zijing Mining (a global top 10 copper producer) – April 2022

Kincora's wholly owned Mongolian portfolio assets include the Bronze Fox mining license (the eastern license of the Bronze Fox project), Tourmaline Hills (the western license of the Bronze Fox project) and Red Well exploration licenses, the White Pearl camp and one of (if not) the largest project generation databases for Mongolia (refer to Figure 1 for recent regional activity).

The MRE and Exploration Target were commissioned and paid for by Resilience, meeting a condition precedent from the Joint Venture and Acquisition Agreement, and subsequent extension agreement, with Kincora. On July 8th, 2022, Kincora provided an update on the status of the Joint Venture Agreement with Resilience (see the press release "Kincora provides corporate update for Mongolian portfolio" for further details).

The MRE and Exploration Target have been prepared by independent consultants DG & JG Larsen Consulting Pty Ltd, and its principal Mr. David Larsen, and are reported in accordance with the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves 2012 (JORC Code), and is not based on Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) definitions, and as a result the estimate is not recognized under National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators (NI 43-101).

Mr. David Larsen is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is a full-time employee of and the principal of DF & JG Larsen Consulting Pty Ltd and is a shareholder of Resilience. Mr. Larsen produced the Mineral Resource Estimate based on data and geological information supplied by Kincora and Resilience.

Mr Larsen has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Minerals Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr Larsen consents to the inclusion in this press release of the matters based on his information in the form and context that the information appears.

This announcement has been authorised for release by the Board of Kincora Copper Limited (ARBN 645 457 763)

About Kincora Copper

Kincora Copper is an active and systematic ASX and TSX-V listed exploration company (ticker "KCC") focused on world-class copper gold discoveries in Australia's foremost porphyry region, the Macquarie Arc, with the ambition to become the leading pure play porphyry explorer this region. Kincora is also seeking to realise value from its highly prospective portfolio of porphyry projects located in the Southern Gobi, Mongolia's foremost porphyry region. For further information please refer to www.kincoracopper.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information regarding Kincora contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Kincora believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Kincora cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Kincora currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. Kincora does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information in this news release was prepared in accordance with the standards of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum and National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and was reviewed, verified and compiled by Kincora's geological staff under the supervision of Paul Cromie (BSc Hons. M.Sc. Economic Geology, PhD, member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Society of Economic Geologists), Exploration Manager Australia, who is the Qualified Persons for the purpose of NI 43-101.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) or the Australian Securities Exchange accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Chinese giant Alibaba has announced plans to apply for a primary listing in Hong Kong and keep its listing in the United States, opening up the firm to a vast pool of mainland China investors for the first time.

The move announced on Tuesday would see Alibaba become the first large dual-primary listed company on the New York Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange, taking advantage of a new rule allowing dual primary listings.

The move comes after the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) in January announced it would allow “innovative” Chinese companies with weighted voting rights or variable interest entities – where a company sets up an offshore entity that allows foreign investors to buy into the stock – to carry out dual primary listings in the city.

CEO Daniel Zhang said Alibaba was pursuing another primary listing venue to foster a “wider and more diversified investor base”.

“Hong Kong and New York are both major global financial centers, with shared characteristics of openness and diversity,” Zhang said in a statement. “Hong Kong is also the launch pad for Alibaba’s globalization strategy, and we are fully confident in China’s economy and future.”

Alibaba went public in New York in September 2014 and completed a secondary listing in Hong Kong in November 2019.

Once a darling of technology stock investors, the e-commerce giant saw its stock price plummet after Beijing launched a sweeping crackdown on private industry that left the company with a $2.8bn fine and scuppered the initial public offering (IPO) of its affiliate Ant.

Alibaba’s stock jumped four percent at the start of trading in Hong Kong amid expectations the move would give mainland China investors easier access to its shares.

While Alibaba already has a secondary listing in Hong Kong, the listing does not allow it to join the popular Stock Connect programme that links to bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

China’s Covid-19 infections rebounded, with an increase in cases in the south threatening the operations of industry giants including BYD Co. and Huawei Technologies Co.

Nationwide, cases were 868 for Monday, CCTV reported, up from 680 a day earlier. Attention is shifting to the southern manufacturing hub of Shenzhen, where 19 local cases were detected and authorities have ordered some of China’s biggest firms to operate within a “closed loop” system for seven days, raising concerns about disruptions to global supply chains.

The city government asked its 100 biggest companies, including iPhone maker Foxconn and oil producer Cnooc Ltd. to restrict operations only to employees living within a closed loop or bubble, with little to no contact with people beyond their plants or offices. Authorities also asked companies to reduce unnecessary interaction between non-manufacturing staff and factory floors to reduce infection, according to a government notice seen by Bloomberg News.

The city had also shut three subway stations as of Tuesday. Xiasha and Shawei stations in Futian district are close to the border with Hong Kong, and Hourui in Bao’an district is to the west of the city.

Shanghai reported 19 local cases, including three found outside quarantine areas. The financial hub will conduct two rounds of mandatory mass testing in nine of its 16 districts between Tuesday and Thursday in order to reduce outbreak risks.

The compulsory testing, which has been conducted frequently since the city emerged from a bruising two-month lockdown in early June, comes on top of a requirement for everyone in Shanghai to test every other day in order to move around freely. Residents are already required to hold a negative PCR result done within the previous 72 hours to get into public places like shopping malls, office buildings and restaurants.

The city halted operations at warehouses in Baoshan district, including those for steel products, from Tuesday for three days to contain Covid-19 cases, according to commodities research firm Mysteel.

The majority of China’s cases are centered in the hotspots of the Guangxi region in the south, which recorded 402 cases Monday, and the northwestern province of Gansu, which had 343 new infections.

The outbreak in Gansu has coincided with the peak tourist season, dealing a heavy blow to the local industry, a key source of revenue for the remote province that lies along the ancient Silk Road and is home to attractions such as the Dunhuang grottoes, the official China Business News reported.

Authorities have temporarily closed 186 tourist sites, almost half of the province’s attractions. Many travel agencies have suspended planned trips to Gansu, while diverting their clients to other destinations, the report said. The province received 276 million tourists in 2021 and tourism income of 184 billion yuan ($27 billion), according to the report.

Many domestic tourism companies have issued profit warnings for the first half, according to the report, with seven mainland China-listed tourism firms, including China CYTS Tours Holding Co., LiJiang YuLongTourism Co. and Tibet Tourism Co. forecasting a combined 450 million yuan in losses for the first six months of the year.

— With assistance by Peter Vercoe, Charlie Zhu, and Linda Lew