According to the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry, Mongolia's exports of mineral products have increased in the last two weeks compared to the previous weeks.

As of February 4-10, the country exported a total of 806.7 thousand tons of coal (1224 containers by road, 654 containers by rail), 124.5 thousand tons of copper concentrate (152 containers by road, 329 containers by rail) as well as 165.2 thousand tons of iron ore and concentrate (1086 containers by rail) from the beginning of the year.

The purchase of gold by the central bank was 1,663.0 kg from the beginning of the year, which shows an increase of 4.7 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

Ivanhoe Mines has signed an agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s state mining company Gecamines to bring the Kipushi zinc mine back into commercial production, the Canada-listed miner said on Monday.

Kipushi will have an average grade of 36.4% zinc over the first five years of production, Ivanhoe said.

The deal, signed by Ivanhoe’s fully-owned subsidiary Kipushi Holding, sets out commercial terms towards a new joint-venture agreement, and is subject to execution of definitive documentation, Ivanhoe said.

(By Helen Reid; Editing by Jason Neely)

In connection with the Government’s decision to fully open the country’s borders to international travel and lift pandemic restrictions, a conference took place under the theme, ‘New Revival Policy - Tourism’, on February 14. The conference was organized at the initiative of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

In aims of effectively implementing the ‘Vision-2050’ long-term development policy and boosting the productivity of government organizations, the Government recently approved the ‘New Revival Policy’, its program for implementation in phases, and large-scale development projects that are planned to be carried out in its framework.

During the conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs B.Battsetseg highlighted that the tourism sector has a crucial role in accelerating the country’s economy, and noted that the Ministry is focusing on smoother entry of foreign nationals traveling to Mongolia, and providing support for tourism by carrying out certain works.

Based on the effective practices of countries around the world, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is actively working to facilitate the travel conditions of foreign nationals, and further refining the legal environment for tourism and investment. Currently, visa exemption arrangements have been made for ordinary passport holders of 25 nationalities and diplomatic and official passport holders of 63 nationals.

Through the evisa.mn system, foreign nationals of 36 countries are also being issued three types of short-term visas in 20-72 hours.

Following the agreement that was reached on the issue of developing tourism in the Mongolia-China border region, the K3 visa has been introduced which is a three-day visa.

In the framework of Mongolia’s foreign policy, ‘Vision-2050’ long-term development policy, and the Government’s action plan for 2020-2024, a comprehensive program is currently being implemented on expanding cultural relations with other countries by accelerating promotional works abroad.

Through the 46 Diplomatic Representatives’ Offices around the world, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also consistently promotes the laws of Mongolia as well as the policies, decisions, and works being carried out by the Government. Within the aims of increasing the country’s competitiveness for tourism internationally, and developing sustainable tourism, support is being provided for developing cooperation in economy and tourism with other countries alongside promoting the Government’s policy on tourism development.

Furthermore, preparations have been recently completed for projects and programs aimed at boosting the country’s tourism sector with the involvement of Mongolian citizens abroad, and utilizing new opportunities in increasing the flow of foreign and domestic tourists in the country.

As for the issue concerning vaccinations, the mutual acknowledgement of ‘Health Certificate for International Travel’ or vaccine certificates have been reached with the countries of Kazakhstan, Hungary, Turkey, Japan, India, and the U.K, while talks are underway with countries such as Canada, UAE, South Korea, China, Russia, and the EU.

During the conference, the participants highlighted the importance of specifically defining the pressing issues for developing tourism in Mongolia and resolving them, increasing the sector’s competitiveness internationally, ensuring the correlation between the policy and works of corresponding organizations in order to improve the current conditions for tourism based on public-private-people partnership, and organizing promotional works abroad comprehensively by handling the matter through a ‘single window’.

On February 15, 609 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected after conducting PCR tests nationwide within the past 24 hours, reported the Ministry of Health. More specifically, 286 new cases were detected in the capital city, with 323 cases in rural regions.

Furthermore, two new COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 2,076. Currently, 6,520 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19, while 21,783 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

Of the total patients currently undergoing treatment at hospitals, there are 570 patients in critical, and 54 patients in very critical condition.

As much of the nation watched pre-game Super Bowl hype, five soldiers with the Illinois Army National Guard were launched Sunday on a super showdown of their own. But this team’s big game won’t be held in sunny California, but the ancient Asian land of Mongolia.

A logistics advisor team of five soldiers from the Illinois Army National Guard’s elite 6th Battalion, 54th Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) held a deployment ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 13, at the Rock Island Arsenal. After a short training in Texas, the team will join the active-duty Army’s 5th SFAB based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., to deploy to Mongolia. The six-month deployment is the first for the Illinois National Guard’s SFAB unit and represents the first SFAB to support the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, according to a Monday release.

The SFAB is an elite unit with a core mission to conduct training, advising, assisting, enabling and accompanying operations with allied and partner nations. The Illinois Army National Guard’s SFAB unit was activated in 2020, after about a year and a half of organizing the unit. The 6th Battalion, based at Rock Island Arsenal, represents the logistics experts in the 54th SFAB. The 54th SFAB headquarters is in Indiana.

“We just feel a tremendous amount of pride sending this team off,” said Maj. Keri Wolf, the officer-in-charge of 6th Battalion and one of the original full-time Active Guard-Reserve (AGR) officers charged with manning, equipping and training the new unit. “To see this all come to fruition is just a great feeling.”

Lt. Col. Bradley Roach, the 6th Battalion Commander, said he was “jealous” of the deploying team. “Although you are few in numbers, the positive effect you can have on the future relations between the United States and Mongolia is great.” Roach said the SFAB doesn’t just advise foreign defense forces, it also builds lasting relationships and trust between nations. Mongolia is an independent Asian nation sandwiched between China and Russia.

The logistics advisory team, designated Team 6621, consists of an officer-in-charge, a noncommissioned officer-in-charge/transportation expert, a supply/quartermaster expert, a maintenance expert, and a medical expert. “While they are all experts in their own field, they are also cross-trained in the other areas so they can effectively advise in any of the areas of Army logistics,” Wolf said.

Col. Tim Newman, the Commander of the 108th Sustainment Brigade, the 6th Battalion’s higher headquarters in Illinois, told the families of the deploying Guard members to please reach out if they needed support. “We are here for you,” Newman said.

Capt. Cameron Worley, a native of Peoria and officer-in-charge of the team, said he was excited for the deployment and promised to take good care of the soldiers while they are in Mongolia. In six months the team is slated to be replaced in Mongolia with another team from 6th Battalion.

“I’m honored to lead this first team and to go do what this unit is designed to do,” he said.

Following a new long-term agreement between Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ) and the Government of Mongolia, underground production has formally started at Oyu Tolgoi. In a major step forward, and after excavation of over 90 km of tunnels over 11 years, the first undercut rings were recently fired at the Oyu Tolgoi underground block cave copper mine in Mongolia by teams from Oyu Tolgoi including Technical Services Drill and Blast & Production working with blasting services partners Orica and Mera, and underground services contractor Redpath. The commencement of undercut blasting marks the start of the production phase of the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine and the mine is now beginning caving operations. The underground mine is expected to achieve sustainable production for Panel 0 in the first half of 2023.

The first undercut blast created a vertical void from the Apex to the undercut level (UCL) and involved 114 holes being charged with 6 t of explosives. Once charging was complete, the blast was initiated remotely using an electronic blasting system. The Hugo-Dummett deposit will be mined in a series of lifts, the first stage being Hugo North Lift 1 (500 Mt) that will utilise the panel caving mining technique. The Lift 1 mining levels are approximately 1,300 m below surface. Six distinct levels have been developed to mine Lift 1. The Apex level is 17 m above the undercut level, which in turn is 17 m above the extraction level (floor to floor). The haulage level is 44 m below the extraction level. In the footprint area, the exhaust ventilation level lies between the extraction and haulage levels.

Undercut blasting extends 18 m (one drawbell spacing) from the centre of draw in each production drive to ensure cave propagation for drawbells along the cave edge. The undercut and Apex level perimeter drives are located a minimum of 32.5 m outside the undercut blasting area to protect against cave abutment stress. After blasting an undercut ring approximately 60% of the blasted tonnage (the swell) from the ring will be mucked from the undercut level. On the extraction level, an El Teniente-style drawpoint layout is proposed for the entire footprint with drawpoints angled at 60⁰ to the extraction drives.

Mine access and ventilation of workings is enabled by a series of five shafts as well as the C2S conveyor access. Shaft 1 (6.7 m diameter) and Shaft 2 (10 m diameter) are multipurpose service, production, and intake ventilation shafts sunk to a depth of 1,385 m and 1,284 m respectively. Shaft 3 is a 10 m diameter concrete-lined intake shaft, with a depth of 1,148 m. Shaft 4 is an 11 m diameter concrete-lined exhaust shaft, with a depth of 1,209 m. Shaft 5 is a 6.7 m diameter concrete lined exhaust shaft, with two underground ventilation stations and a depth of 1,178 m. The conveyor to surface (C2S) system comprises three identical 2,202 m long 1.6 m wide steel cord conveyors operating at 6 m/s and capable of conveying the full planned production rate of 32 Mt/y. The conveyors have been installed in a 6 m wide by 5.4 m high conveyor decline.

Mongolia confirmed 553 new cases of the coronavirus infection, including 315 in the capital and 238 in the regions, said the Ministry of Health on Monday.

The total number of cases has risen to 457,032.

1,808 hospitalized patients are in mild condition, 4,341 are in moderate condition, 615 are in serious condition, and 58 are in very serious condition.

1 coronavirus-linked death was recorded per day raising the COVID-19 death toll in Mongolia to 2,074.

With over 1000 licenses issued across the country, a diverse range of mineral extraction operations are transforming in Mongolia. The Gobi region is crowded with both mega mines and smaller-scale operations. The Gobi also has excellent conditions for renewable energy and is poised to be a site for significant investment in this industry.

Solar and wind farms are already starting to pop up in SouthGobi /Umnugobi/ and Dornogovi provinces reflecting Mongolia’s commitment to reduce its reliance on coal power under the State Policy on Energy 2015-2030.

“Mongolia is attractive for deploying green hydrogen production and more renewable energy projects can be developed in the Central Asian region”, Elixir Energy Managing Director and CEO Neil Young said in an interview. “Mongolia has very high-quality wind and solar resources – and our analysis shows that in addition, these 2 renewable sources are highly complementary in terms of combining to produce very strong annual capacity factors. However, Mongolia’s primary attractiveness as a green H2 project location is its immediate proximity to potentially very large Chinese H2 markets. H2 is very expensive to move – so location close to markets is arguably the most important source of competitive advantage,” Young told

“Our analysis shows that shipping H2 from Mongolia to China by pipeline would cost ~10% of the cost of liquefying and shipping it by boat from distant countries like Australia. If our view is correct, then we expect many others to follow us – the renewable resources available are massive in scale – as is the potential market in China in the decades to come,” he added.

Mongolia has only a small electricity grid – ~1,000 MW – with limited interconnection to Russia and China. A number of grid-scale wind and solar farms are already present in the system – but the immediate scope for more will need to await more energy storage to back them up and/or higher inter-country interconnectivity.

There was no specific legislation on green hydrogen in Mongolia