We had an interview with consultant economist, leader of the research team to develop a feasibility study for light rail transit B.Davaasuren regarding the LRT project.

“In Ulaanbaatar, there is no possibility to reduce traffic congestion by paving a road due to the annual import of 70-80 thousand vehicles on average. Therefore, the LRT project is a key solution to reducing traffic congestion. it was considered more appropriate for LRT to have a pier bridge in Ulaanbaatar”, he says.

-How much is the LRT project needed in Ulaanbaatar?

-Centralization and traffic congestion have become a long-standing issue in Ulaanbaatar. Also, there is a necessity to connect new sub-centers and satellite cities. Citizens can't be provided with potential service with only high-capacity vehicles, buses, and private cars.

Therefore, major upgrades are needed in the transport system. According to the study of many years, the most convenient and sizeable vehicle in our country is LRT. Traffic congestion is expected to reduce by 25 percent with the introduction of LRT in public transport.

-People tend to assume that the subway is more suitable for Ulaanbaatar than LRT. What are the advantages of the LRT over the subway?

-A lot of research has been made on public transportation over the years. As a result, it was suggested that LRT could be the beginning of a major change in public transport due to several factors. First, the subway costs at least USD 150 million per kilometer. This price will increase depending on the geographical location and depth, so the subway is not suitable for our current state of the economy. Building a subway in Ulaanbaatar city which has a population of almost 1.5 million is not the ideal option. Subway and LRT are similar in content, both of which are unobstructed, serve citizens according to a set schedule, are accident-free and comfortable, and LRT offers many other economic benefits. For example, a favorable business environment can be created with the establishment of LRT stations.

-What are the cost estimates for the project?

The project is estimated to cost USD 926 million to build an 18.1 km road with 15 stations. Land and high voltage line acquisition, road expansion costs, as well as rising commodity prices, and exchange rate fluctuations were also taken into account.

-The Standing Committee on Budget has concluded that it is not possible to include the cost estimates in the 2022 budget amendment. How accurate do you think the conclusion was? How well did the standing committee get acquainted with the project?

The decision has to be made based on a thorough study and opinions of the members of the State Great Khural. Of course, it is difficult to allocate such an amount of funding amid Mongolia’s current situation of external debts. However, the development issues facing the country should not be postponed. Addressing these types of issues will significantly contribute to the city’s economic development.

CAPITAL CITY TRAINING, RESEARCH, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCY

In the framework of ensuring the implementation of the One Billion Trees national movement initiated by the President of Mongolia, Chief of Staff of the Office of the President Ya.Sodbaatar made a working visit to Istanbul, Turkey.

During his visit, he held a meeting with Istanbul Regional Director of Forestry Yusuf Sahin to discuss the current policy being implemented for the forestry sector in Turkey as well as forestry management and afforestation.

In the country, a sectoral policy is currently being implemented through the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the General Directorate of Forestry of Turkey, and its regional offices. Established in 1839, the Istanbul Regional Directorate of Forestry is in charge of the local forests which make up over 40 percent of the city’s territory.

The Chief of Staff of the Office of the President highlighted the opportunity to cooperate with the Republic of Turkey in developing Mongolia’s forestry sector, building capacity, increasing the types of trees and shrubs planted in the country, and developing green spaces near cities.

The sides agreed to cooperate in carrying out works, and discussed organizing mutual visits and exchanges between the two countries.

A project that was implemented on protecting Terkos Lake, a source of drinking water for Istanbul’s residents, from desertification was introduced during the meeting. In the framework of the project, species of trees that were considered suitable for the region began to be planted from 1961, afforesting 2,102 hectares of area by 1987.

Domestically sourcing the seedlings and saplings to be planted for the year, the country of Turkey currently plans to plant 160 million trees nationwide in 2022.

Arizona Sonoran Copper Company (TSX:ASCU) has entered into a strategic partnership with Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) focused on the world’s second biggest miner’s Nuton technologies, that includes participation in a private placement of up to C$35 million ($27.3m).

On completion of the offering, Rio Tinto is expected to hold 7.2% of the outstanding share capital of the company. Arizona Sonoran Copper’s asset, Cactus, is a brownfield copper mine located on private land in western Pinal County, Arizona.

Last month, Lion Copper and Gold entered into an option to earn-in agreement with Rio Tintoto advance studies and exploration at Lion CG’s copper assets in Mason Valley, Nevada. Under the agreement, Rio Tinto has the option to earn a 65% interest in the assets, comprising 34,494 acres of land.

At both sites, Rio will evaluate the potential commercial deployment of its Nuton copper heap leaching technologies, which it developed to deliver increased copper recovery from mined ore and access new sources of copper such as low-grade sulphide resources and reprocessing of stockpiles and mineralised waste.

With very few new copper mines coming online, combined with existing mines getting progressively more challenging in terms of declining grades and depth, the industry is looking at new technology to produce more out of existing operations.

Rio estimates that more than 100mt of copper is contained in tailings globally.

The technologies, the company said, have the potential to deliver improved environmental performance through more efficient water usage, lower carbon emissions, and the ability to reclaim mine sites by reprocessing waste.

According to the company, the Nuton technologies have the potential to economically unlock low-grade sulphide resources, copper bearing waste and tailings, and achieve higher copper recoveries on oxide and transitional material, increasing copper production with a lower corresponding carbon footprint.

One of the key differentiators, the company said, is the potential to deliver ESG performance, such as more efficient water usage, lower carbon emissions, and the ability to restore and reclaim mine sites by reprocessing mine waste

“We see Nuton as a venture that’s innovative and really intended to help grow our copper business and accelerate our decarbonization agenda,” Adam Burley, Rio Tinto’s lead of the Nuton venture told MINING.com.

“We see real opportunity in the Nuton portfolio of technologies to unlock new sources of copper — that may come from lower grade material in existing mines, or potentially material with complex mineralogy at new greenfield projects, or copper in mine waste,” Burley said.

“In the leaching of oxides we’ve been doing that as an industry for decades, it’s really that primary, chalcopyrite-dominated material that holds the key,” he said. “What we see through Nuton is a step change in the recovery of copper from that chalcopyrite. We expect to deliver copper recoveries in excess of 80% on those chalcopyrite-dominant ores.”

Burley said the Nuton portfolio is the product of nearly 30 years of in-house research and development, and that the aim is to deliver carbon- neutral copper and that based on its averages, Rio estimates it can deliver 0.4 tonnes of Co2 equivalent for Scope 1 and 2 emissions per tonne of Nuton copper produced, compared to 5.2 tonnes of C02 equivalent as per standard, conventional primary copper production.

“It’s heads and shoulders above the next best,” Burley said. “We’re really excited to market it at this point and roll the technology out across the industry.”

Canadian miner Teck Resources Ltd on Wednesday beat market estimates for quarterly profit on the back of higher copper and coking coal prices, sending its shares 8% higher.

Copper prices climbed to record highs in the first three months of the year on fears that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions from the West would upend supply. The metal has also benefited from demand sparked by its key role in the transition from fossil fuels to electrification.

Teck said its average realized price for copper rose about 15% to $4.51 per pound in the quarter, while its realized steelmaking coal prices more than doubled to $357 per tonne.

US-listed shares of the miner rallied 13%.

Diesel drives up costs

But Teck saw some pressure from rising inflation, especially in diesel prices, with operating costs surging 13%.

That prompted the company to raise its view for steelmaking coal unit cost in 2022 by around 9%. Teck kept its cost outlook for copper and zinc unchanged.

Miners have in recent months been grappling with logistical delays and rising costs of key supplies such as equipment and explosives, particularly after the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted in March.

“The fact that the company maintained its base metals guidance and carries some natural protection from inflation via its oil and zinc asset is likely a win in our view,” JP Morgan analyst Michael Glick wrote in a note.

Copper production fell 6% to 67,200 tonnes in the quarter due to lower output from Teck’s operations in Highland Valley Copper, British Columbia, and Carmen de Andacollo in Chile.

Adjusted quarterly profit came in at C$2.96 per share, topping analysts’ estimate of C$2.89 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

($1 = 1.2782 Canadian dollars)

(By Rithika Krishna; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Aditya Soni)

Mongolia's health ministry confirmed 42 new COVID-19 infections on April 28.

21 new cases were recorded in Ulaanbaatar, 21 cases were detected in the regions.

No new related deaths have been recorded in Mongolia since March 10, and the country's COVID-19 death toll remains at 2,108.

Mongolia is striving to combat a rise in consumer prices driven by external factors.

On Wednesday, the Mongolian government decided to issue a soft loan worth 230 billion Mongolian Tugriks (74.8 million U.S. dollars) to flour producers and meat processing enterprises, according to the Food and Agriculture Ministry.

The decision is part of government efforts to combat rising prices caused by the pandemic and the ongoing geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the ministry said, stressing the need to ease growing meat and flour prices.

The loan is expected to be allocated through commercial banks with an interest rate of 3 percent, it added.

An average Mongolian household consumes 373 types of goods per month, of which more than 200 are imported, Batmunkh Batdavaa, head of the country's National Statistics Office, said in a statement.

"We cannot regulate the prices of imported goods because they are directly dependent on external factors. We can only regulate the prices of domestically produced products such as meat and flour," Batdavaa said.

In addition, Mongolia will exempt the excise tax on the gasoline brand AI-92 and diesel fuel until the end of the year as part of efforts to ensure stable prices.

The average retail price of the most commonly used gasoline brand AI-92 was 2,381 Mongolian Tugriks per liter at the end of the first quarter, up 64.8 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the NSO. As of Thursday, the price of gasoline was 2,390 Mongolian Tugriks. (1 USD = 3,090 Tugriks) ■

By preliminary results, in the first quarter of 2022, the gross industrial output reached MNT 3.5 trillion, decreased by MNT 1.1 trillion (24.4%) from the previous year. This decrease was mainly due to MNT 1.2 trillion (34.7%) decrease in mining and quarrying and MNT 5.7 billion (0.7%) decrease in manufacturing production gross output. Also, the electricity, thermal energy and water supply production output increased by MNT 29.1 billion (7.1%) and the water supply, and sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities production output increased by MNT 6.5 billion (17.7%) from the previous year.

By preliminary results, in the first quarter of 2022, the mining and quarrying gross output reached MNT 2.2 trillion, decreased by MNT 1.2 trillion (34.7%) from the same period of previous year.

In the manufacturing sector, production of alcoholic beverage, pure water, soft drink, juice, combed cashmere, cashmere products and lime increased by 3.2 percent to 2.2 times compared to the previous year. In the manufacturing sector, productions of copper cathode (99%), milk, metal steel, spirt, cigarettes, coal briquette, cement, wheat flour, mask, sanitizer, meat and concentrated coal decreased by 1.2–98.5 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

By preliminary results, in the first quarter of 2022, the sales of industrial output reached MNT 4.7 trillion, decreased by MNT 1.7 trillion (26.4%) compared to the same period of the previous year. This decrease mainly resulted from MNT 1.7 trillion (34.8%) decrease in sales of mining and quarrying output.

The sales of mining and quarrying output decreased by MNT 1.7 trillion (34.8%) compared to the same period of the previous year.

Source: National Statistics Office

At today's regular Cabinet meeting, a decision was made to issue a loan of MNT 230 billion to flour producers and meat processing enterprises at a 3 percent interest rate.

Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Z.Mendsaikhan said at a press conference to introduce the decision of the Cabinet meeting that the Government will cover the net interest spread of MNT 25 billion. The Minister also stressed that this will help reduce the pressure of the increase in the price of meat and flour on the citizens.