1 MONGOLIA PM FACES LIKELY CONFIDENCE VOTE AMID CORRUPTION CLAIMS WWW.AFP.COM PUBLISHED:2025/06/02      2 RIO TINTO FINDS ITS MEGA-MINE STUCK BETWEEN TWO MONGOLIAN STRONGMEN WWW.AFR.COM PUBLISHED:2025/06/02      3 SECRETARY RUBIO’S CALL WITH MONGOLIAN FOREIGN MINISTER BATTSETSEG, MAY 30, 2025 WWW.MN.USEMBASSY.GOV  PUBLISHED:2025/06/02      4 REGULAR TRAIN RIDES ON THE ULAANBAATAR-BEIJING RAILWAY ROUTE TO BE RESUMED WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2025/06/02      5 MONGOLIAN DANCE TEAMS WIN THREE GOLD MEDALS AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CHOREOGRAPHY LATIN 2025 WWW.MONTSAME.MN  PUBLISHED:2025/06/02      6 RUSSIA STARTS BUYING POTATOES FROM MONGOLIA WWW.CHARTER97.ORG PUBLISHED:2025/06/02      7 MONGOLIA BANS ONLINE GAMBLING, BETTING AND PAID LOTTERIES WWW.QAZINFORM.COM PUBLISHED:2025/06/02      8 HOW DISMANTLING THE US MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WILL UNDERMINE MONGOLIA WWW.THEDIPLOMAT.COM PUBLISHED:2025/05/30      9 ORBMINCO ADVANCES BRONZE FOX PROJECT IN KINCORA COPPER PROJECT IN MONGOLIA WWW.DISCOVERYALERT.COM.AU PUBLISHED:2025/05/30      10 MONGOLIA SOLAR ENERGY SECTOR GROWTH: 1,000 MW BY 2025 SUCCESS WWW.PVKNOWHOW.COM PUBLISHED:2025/05/30      ЕРӨНХИЙЛӨГЧ У.ХҮРЭЛСҮХ, С.БЕРДЫМУХАМЕДОВ НАР АЛБАН ЁСНЫ ХЭЛЭЛЦЭЭ ХИЙЛЭЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/02     Н.НОМТОЙБАЯР: ДАРААГИЙН ЕРӨНХИЙ САЙД ТОДРОХ НЬ ЦАГ ХУГАЦААНЫ АСУУДАЛ БОЛСОН WWW.ITOIM.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/02     Л.ТӨР-ОД МҮХАҮТ-ЫН ГҮЙЦЭТГЭХ ЗАХИРЛААР Х.БАТТУЛГЫН ХҮНИЙГ ЗҮТГҮҮЛЭХ ҮҮ WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/02     ЦЕГ: ЗУНЫ ЗУГАА ТОГЛОЛТЫН ҮЕЭР 10 ХУТГА ХУРААЖ, СОГТУУРСАН 22 ИРГЭНИЙГ АР ГЭРТ НЬ ХҮЛЭЭЛГЭН ӨГСӨН WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/02     УУЛ УУРХАЙН ТЭЭВЭРЛЭЛТИЙГ БҮРЭН ЗОГСООЖ, ШАЛГАНА WWW.EGUUR.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/02     ГАДНЫ КИБЕР ХАЛДЛАГЫН 11 ХУВЬ НЬ УИХ, 70 ХУВЬ НЬ ЗАСГИЙН ГАЗАР РУУ ЧИГЛЭДЭГ WWW.ZINDAA.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/02     НИЙТИЙН ОРОН СУУЦНЫ 1 М.КВ-ЫН ДУНДАЖ ҮНЭ 3.6 САЯ ТӨГРӨГ БАЙНА WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/06/02     ГОВИЙН БҮСИЙН ЧИГЛЭЛД УУЛ УУРХАЙН ТЭЭВЭРЛЭЛТИЙГ БҮРЭН ЗОГСООНО WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/05/30     СОР17 УЛААНБААТАР ХОТНОО 2026 ОНЫ НАЙМДУГААР САРЫН 17-28-НД БОЛНО WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/05/30     НИЙСЛЭЛИЙН ТӨР, ЗАХИРГААНЫ БАЙГУУЛЛАГЫН АЖИЛ 07:00 ЦАГТ ЭХЭЛЖ 16:00 ЦАГТ ТАРНА WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2025/05/30    

Category

Events

Events

Name organizer Where
MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

NEWS

64x64

Dayton announces signing of Mongolia native Sharavjamts www.daytondailynews.com

Dayton Flyers coach Anthony Grant announced the signing of Mike Sharavjamts, who verbally committed to UD in December on Wednesday, the first day of the spring signing period.
Sharavjamts, a 6-foot-9, 182-pound point guard, will make college basketball history as the first citizen of Mongolia to earn a Division I scholarship.
“We’re excited to announce the addition of Mike Sharavjamts to our program and welcome him to the Flyer family,” Grant said in a press release. “He brings a unique combination of size, skill, and versatility that will fit our system and style of play very well.”
UD released a video on social media with former Flyers Jordy Tshimanga, Jimmy Binnie, Chris Wright, Keith Waleskowski plus one current Flyer, Toumani Camara, welcoming Sharavjamts to the program.
At this point, Sharavjamts (SHAR-uv-jaumts) is the only member of Dayton’s 2022 recruiting class. There are two scholarships open after Elijah Weaver and Moulaye Sissoko entered the transfer portal.
Sharavjamts played at the prestigious Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Ore., on Friday with many of the top recruits in the class of 2022. In just under 11 minutes, he had two points, two blocks, a rebound and an assists. He made 1 of 3 field-goal attempts.
Sharavjamts played this past season at the International Sports Academy in Willoughby, Ohio. He averaged 10.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 24 games and shot 51.2% (44 of 86) from 3-point range.
Sharavjamts ranks 100th in the 2022 class, according to ESPN.com, No. 147, according to Rivals.com, and No. 150, according to 247Sports.com.
...


64x64

QSC company’s concession agreement terminated www.montsame.mn

At its meeting on April 13, the Cabinet nullified its resolution No. 69 of February 28, 2015 on establishing concession agreements. Relevant officials were thus ordered to send a notice about the termination of the concession agreement on implementing a mining and metallurgical complex project, which was established between the Ministry of Economic Development and QSC company in April 4, 2014, to the company and transfer the management and assets of Darkhan Metallurgical Plant JSC from QSC.
The concession agreement states that the competent entity shall submit a proposal to terminate the agreement to the Cabinet on the basis that the project could not continue as project activities come to a stop for more than two years due to an error by the concession holder.
The concession holder has not built a plant with an annual capacity of not less than 500 thousand tons nor carried out extensions and upgrades to bring the capacity of Darkhan Metallurgical Plant to 300 thousand tons per year.
It was deemed that the project became inactive because the company failed to complete the measures to implement the project to extend Darkhan Metallurgical plant and develop a mining and metallurgical complex in the eight years since the establishment of the agreement and the company cannot implement the project.
...


64x64

Fake Tesla release sends lithium miner’s stock on a wild ride www.bloomberg.com

Shares of Lithium Corp. whipsawed on Wednesday after an inauthentic press release circulated claiming electric-vehicle giant Tesla Inc. had acquired the Nevada-based miner.
Lithium Corp.’s stock more than tripled to $1.09 shortly before noon in New York before paring its gain. The shares were trading up about 25% at 1:16 p.m., while Tesla shares rose 3.1% to $1,017.19.
Screenshots of the bogus press release about a deal had been shared earlier on Twitter, including by well-followed fans of Elon Musk’s company. Tom Lewis, chief executive officer of Lithium Corp., told Bloomberg News that the deal was “fake news.” He added that the release didn’t come from his company and he was unsure where it came from.
Lithium Corp. subsequently issued a press release stating that it had not received “so much as an expression of interest from Tesla.” The company said none of its employees had left to join Tesla but that Lithium Corp. would be “happy to chat with Elon if he was inclined.”
Tesla didn’t respond to requests for comment from Bloomberg.
Some media outlets reported the false claims from the original press release. Lithium is key metal used in the production of EV batteries.
Images of the release appeared to show it was sent by 5W Public Relations, which denied distributing it.
“We do not know the origin of the press release or why our contact information is listed. We did not issue this release as we do not represent either company,” a spokesperson for the agency said.
(By Ed Ludlow)
...


64x64

PM sets out ambitious goal to double Mongolia’s GDP in six areas www.news.mn

Mongolia’s government has outlined the details of a sweeping economic roadmap for post-Covid revival. Dubbed the ‘New Recovery’ policy, the reform package combines both structural policy changes, such as partial privatisation of some state-owned enterprises, and major infrastructure initiatives, including the approval for a light rail transit system in the capital.
Speaking at the Mongolia Economic Forum (MEF) 2022, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene invited local businesses, foreign partners and international organisations to cooperate on a MNT 150 trillion investment goal, that aims to double GDP by clearing hurdles in six priority areas: energy, border ports, industrialization, urban and rural recovery, green development, and public sector efficiency. Approved by the Mongolian parliament in December, the policy comes atop the already-committed MNT 10 trillion for financial aid, helping to keep over 64,400 businesses afloat and save 360,000 jobs.
“Mongolia is open for foreign direct investment and tourism, directly thanks to my country’s handling of the pandemic and the large uptake of vaccines across the country thanks to the government’s vaccination drive. Our economic future will be driven by the ‘New Recovery Policy’ which is the government’s plan for economic growth and prosperity” said the Prime Minister.
As of a month ago almost all restrictions were lifted. Amongst those who would be classed as vulnerable, we have vaccinated 96% with one dose, 92% with two doses of vaccine, whilst 53% of those classed as vulnerable have had three vaccine doses. We have vaccinated around 70% of the overall population with one shot, 67% with two shots and over 32% with a third booster shot.
The Mongolian Economic Forum 2022 is the 9th time the event has been held at the Government Palace in Ulaanbaatar since its inception in 2010. The annual two-day forum was hosted by the Prime Minister of Mongolia and presents attendees with the opportunity to hear from the senior members of the government, as well as interview opportunities with ministers responsible for key policy measures. Experts from diverse fields also undertake panel discussions about the future of the Mongolian economy.
...


64x64

Mongolia looking to export 36.7 million mt of coking coal to China www.news.mn

Mongolia is ramping up its efforts to supply raw material such as coking coal and copper to China in 2022 after a lackluster trade in 2021, as it expands its mining sector and boosts its transport network, said O.Batnairamdal, Vice-Minister at Mongolia’s Mining and Heavy Industry Ministry.
Mongolia is a key metallurgical coal and copper concentrates suppliers to China, with most of the trade happening through trucks. Mongolian truck suppliers in 2021 faced severe logistics issues in hauling shipments from land ports to China due to the pandemic-led restrictions at border crossings.
Mongolia is looking to launch three railway lines this year, which will bring the country’s mining sector to a whole new level, O.Batnairamdal said in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Railway shipments will be much convenient, cost-effective, and safer with less human contact amid COVID-19 border restrictions compared to trucks, once the rail networks come online, O.Batnairamdal added.
Suppliers will use the new railway lines to ship coking coal and copper concentrates.
The Tavantolgoi-Gashuunsukhait railway line will come online in July, with 75% of the project complete so far. Meanwhile, construction on Zuunbayan-Khangi/Mandal railway lines started in March, and the country is aiming to start their operations later this year.
Transportation of Mongolia’s Erdenet copper concentrate through China’s Erenhot rail port was disrupted through December 2021 to January, due to China’s zero-COVID control policy. Despite transportation challenges, Mongolia still managed to export 335,000 mt of copper concentrates to China in the first quarter of this year, already meeting 25.6% of its annual target.
Mongolia exported 1.2 million mt of copper concentrates to China in 2021, accounting for 5.1% of China’s copper concentrate purchases, the minister said.
Mongolia is advancing its mining industry capabilities and the country has the potential to become the world’s fifth-largest copper player by 2030, O.Batnairamdal said. This is expected to happen following a major ramp-up of the Oyu Tolgoi mine, as full production is expected to reach in the next few years.
Oyu Tolgoi, in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, is one of the largest known copper and gold deposits in the world and it is expected to be the world’s fourth largest copper mine. Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce around 500,000 mt of copper per year on an average from 2028 to 2036 from the open pit and underground operations, according to Rio Tinto. An average of around 350,000 mt of copper is expected to be produced from the operations for further five years. The mine produced 163,000 mt in 2021.
Mongolia is looking to export 36.7 million mt of coking coal to China this year.
If realized, Mongolian shipments in 2022 would post a 161% jump from 2021 level. The country exported 14.04 million mt of coking coal to China in 2021, accounting for a quarter of China’s total imports.
Source: Platts
...


64x64

Roads closed due to April snowstorm across northern Mongolia www.news.mn

The roads were closed in both directions Thursday morning between capital city of Ulaanbaatar and northern parts of Mongolia due to an unprecedented April snowstorm.
Roads are covered an ice after sleet and heavy snow falls on Wednesday in northern provinces of Mongolia; namely, Selenge, Darkhan-Uul, Orkhon, Bulgan and Khuvsgul.
In Mongolia, March, April and May are spring months, with weather conditions changing widely day-to-day or hour-to-hour.
...


64x64

Flour export conditions agreed with 13 factories of China www.montsame.mn

‘Food supply and security – Crop farming’ national farmers’ forum is taking place.
At the forum, D.Eson-Erdene, head of Soil, Plant Protection and Seed Variety Department, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, said, “The government of Mongolia made a decision to issue a soft loan worth MNT400 billion to the agriculture sector within the framework of a comprehensive plan of MNT 10 trillion to protect citizens’ health and recover the economy. A loan worth MNT 100 billion will be provided to crop production and MNT 50 billion for vegetable production will be provided at three percent interest rate for two years.”
“With aims to ensure the stability of the food supply, we worked to increase the harvest. In this frame, soft loans have been disbursed to mill houses and processing factories. In Mongolia, there are factories with the capacity to process a million tons of wheat into flour. Relevant conditions and quarantine requirements for flour export have been agreed with 13 factories of China.”
...


64x64

New Dean Named to School of Management www.usfca.edu

Otgontsetseg “Otgo” Erhemjamts, (Mongolian) a finance professor and former associate dean of business at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., will be the new dean of USF’s School of Management, beginning July 1.
Otgontsetseg “Otgo” ErhemjamtsA first-generation immigrant to this country, Erhemjamts in 2005 was the first Mongolian student to earn a doctorate in finance in the United States.
“Otgo is passionate about education access and equity and has a deep understanding of the obstacles and opportunities for many of our students,” Provost Chinyere Oparah said.
Erhemjamts has worked in higher education for two decades.
During her time at Bentley, she oversaw the launch of 10 graduate certificate programs, addressed gender inequities in tenure and promotion policies, and co-chaired a committee that addressed systemic racial barriers at Bentley.
“I am thrilled and honored to be joining University of San Francisco,” Erhemjamts said. “I am truly impressed with its explicit commitment to social justice, betterment of the community, and to educating students to be socially and morally responsible. I very much look forward to collaborating with faculty, students, librarians, staff, administrators, alumni, and community partners within the School of Management and across the university.”
At Bentley, Erhemjamts mentored students who launched a student-led sustainable investment fund at Bentley that currently manages $660,000 of the institution’s endowment funds.
Erhemjamts is a published scholar whose research interests are banking, corporate finance, risk management and insurance, sustainable investing, and corporate social responsibility. Co-author of two finance textbooks used in undergraduate and MBA programs around the world, she is in the top 10 percent of authors whose work has been downloaded on the SSRN, a repository of published research formerly known as Social Science Research Network.
As co-principal investigator on a $2.4 million National Science Foundation grant, Erhemjamts is working to broaden the fusion of STEM and business curricula in undergraduate sustainability education.
Erhemjamts succeeds Charles Moses, who has been dean of the School of Management since June 2020 after joining USF as interim dean in 2019. Moses is heading to University of Pacific as dean of the Eberhardt School of Business.
...


64x64

How Mongolia, with a little help from Estonia, became tech’s next hidden gem www.emerging-europe.com

Know-how from tech powerhouse Estonia has helped Mongolia carry out its digital transformation at impressive speed: part of a wider effort to diversify the Mongolian economy away from mining.
That the Covid-19 pandemic sped up the process of digitalisation across the world, across multiple sectors and geographies, is no longer a secret.
From primary healthcare to the delivery of public services, the pandemic served as a wake-up call for all stakeholders – governments, businesses, individuals – that digitalisation can help society become more resilient and better able to cope with challenges and threats such as Covid-19.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Mongolia, the vast country of just 3.28 million people sandwiched between Russia and China.
Its own process of digital transformation, which began before the pandemic struck, allowed the authorities in Ulaanbaatar to cope extremely well with Covid-19 – it was one of the first countries in the world to fully reopen – but was also given a push by the need to ensure that ordinary people could access vital services online.
“We didn’t waste the opportunity that the pandemic offered us,” says Bolor-Erdene Battsengel, Mongolia’s state secretary for digital transformation.
Battsengel, who joined the government in 2020 after a decade in the development sector, at organisations including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, is spearheading Mongolia’s digital transformation with energy and vigour, and a recognition that the country’s future prosperity depends on the creation of a truly digital society.
She is one of several young, internationally-educated leaders “headhunted” – as she puts it – by the Mongolian People’s party after it won a majority in parliament in an election in 2020.
“I joined the government for a reason: e-Mongolia,” Battsengel tells Emerging Europe on the sidelines of the Mongolian Economic Forum in Ulaanbaatar, a private sector initiative first held in 2013 that offers a a platform for business, academics, think tanks, and individuals to communicate with the government.
“I wanted to cut out all of the human interaction between the citizen and the state. Within three months we launched e-Mongolia, initially with 181 services online. Then Covid-19 happened, and we used the lockdown smartly, adding more services but also encouraging citizens to use them. By the end of the lockdown we had about 90 per cent of the population using e-Mongolia, and 650 public services available.”
Mongolians can now set up a new business online, order a new passport, a new ID card, a driving license. Last year five fundamental laws were passed, covering open data sharing, personal data protection, cyber security, digital signatures, and digital assets.
“Now, if a government employee checks a citizen’s data, the citizen is notified by e-Mongolia. It’s totally transparent,” adds Battsengel, who is particularly proud of the fact that even people in the most remote parts of the vast country have access to digital services.
Lessons from Estonia
If it all sounds a lot like Estonia, the global pioneer and still champion of digital public services, there’s a good reason for that: the Baltic state’s e-Estonia model was the blueprint for Mongolia’s digital transformation.
“Estonia’s model is universal,” says Hannes Astok, executive director at the e-Governance Academy (eGA), a non-profit foundation set up by the Estonian government in 2002, in partnership with the Open Society Institute, and the United Nations Development Programme, that assists public sector institutions worldwide in digital transformation.
“Our model is universal because it relies on principles such as ‘once only’ data, decentralised databases, and citizen ownership of data that work well in both small and big countries. It is suitable for all governments,” Astok, also present at the Mongolia Economic Forum, tells Emerging Europe.
In the 20 years since it was set up, the eGA has worked with more than 130 countries around the world. The partnership usually starts with study visits to Estonia to see how it all works, before moving on to policy development, technical architecture development, procurement, implementation assistance and quality assurance. “Governments can select what they need,” says Astok.
Of the many success stories about which the eGA can boast, one of the most recent is Ukraine, where digital government has been one of the cornerstones of its resilience in the face of Russia’s invasion.
“For many of the people who have been forced to flee abroad, as well as internally displaced people within Ukraine, the Diia smartphone app has been the only way that they can prove their identity or access public services,” he adds. “We were heavily involved in its implementation.”
Political will
In Mongolia, Astok says that the digital transformation is helped by the fact that it is being driven from the top, by the country’s prime minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrain, who visited Estonia in 2019 when he was cabinet secretary and “became a big fan”.
“In each and every country, the political will has to be there in order to push through the transformation,” Astok says. “Here we find the momentum that is needed to make it work.”
Mongolia’s plans for digitalisation go way beyond the delivery of public services through an app, however.
Bolor-Erdene Battsengel says that Mongolia wants to become a digital nation as part of a wider push to diversify the economy, a landmark programme known as the New Recovery Policy, which has set a target of six per cent average growth for the next decade. That needs more foreign investment, something she says the country is ready for.
“We are currently working on creating an ICT Free Zone, which is important if we want to attract foreign companies. It’s both a framework – such as tax exemptions – but also a physical location, in Khushigtiin Khundii,” she says.
Khushigtiin Khundii (also known internationally as Maidar City) is a new, planned, environmentally-friendly city south of Ulaanbaatar to which much of the Mongolian government – including Battsengel’s ministry – will be moving.
A bridge to Russia and China
“A lot of companies have told me that they are interested in Mongolia because it can be a bridge to Russia and China. They have been reaching out to us, saying that if we have a friendlier business environment then they can expand into Russia and China from Mongolia. The ICT Free Zone is about creating that friendlier environment for IT firms, start-ups in particular, while also supporting local Mongolian companies.”
Firms investing in IT in Mongolia will need talent, of which Battsengel assures Emerging Europe there is plenty.
“We are not short of talent, despite our small population. We graduate about 50,000 IT students each year, but we also have a number of coding and software development programmes for young people,” she says.
“I always tell people that Mongolia is a hidden gem. It is a hidden technology gem that is booming now. Investors need to get in early to find the best opportunities, so what I am telling people is to come and take a look, check us out.
“Our economy used to be all about mining. Technology offers Mongolia a second chance. That’s what I am working to achieve.”
...


64x64

Mongolia eyes ramp-up of coking coal, copper exports to China in 2022: minister www.hellenicshippingnews.com

Mongolia is ramping up its efforts to supply raw material such as coking coal and copper to China in 2022 after a lackluster trade in 2021, as it expands its mining sector and boosts its transport network, said Batnairamdal Otgonshar, Vice-Minister at Mongolia’s Mining and Heavy Industry Ministry.
Mongolia is a key metallurgical coal and copper concentrates suppliers to China, with most of the trade happening through trucks. Mongolian truck suppliers in 2021 faced severe logistics issues in hauling shipments from land ports to China due to the pandemic-led restrictions at border crossings.
Mongolia is looking to launch three railway lines this year, which will bring the country’s mining sector to a whole new level, Otgonshar said in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Railway shipments will be much convenient, cost-effective, and safer with less human contact amid COVID-19 border restrictions compared to trucks, once the rail networks come online, Otgonshar said.
Suppliers will use the new railway lines to ship coking coal and copper concentrates.
The Tavantolgoi-Gashuunsukhait railway line will come online in July, with 75% of the project complete so far, the minister said.
Meanwhile, construction on Zuunbayan-Khangi/Mandal railway lines started in March, and the country is aiming to start their operations later this year, Otgonshar said.
Copper concentrates
Transportation of Mongolia’s Erdenet copper concentrate through China’s Erenhot rail port was disrupted through December 2021 to January, due to China’s zero-COVID control policy.
Mongolian government is watching the logistics issue closely, Otgonshar said.
Despite transportation challenges, Mongolia still managed to export 335,000 mt of copper concentrates to China in the first quarter of this year, already meeting 25.6% of its annual target, he said.
Mongolia would just focus on China market as transportation costs for other markets are very high, and China’s market is big enough to absorb Mongolia’s increasing production, the minister added.
Copper concentrate from the Oyu Tolgoi mine was sold to Japanese and Korean smelters previously as a trial, according to market sources.
Mongolia exported 1.2 million mt of copper concentrates to China in 2021, accounting for 5.1% of China’s copper concentrate purchases, the minister said.
Mongolia is advancing its mining industry capabilities and the country has the potential to become the world’s fifth-largest copper player by 2030, Otgonshar said.
This is expected to happen following a major ramp-up of the Oyu Tolgoi mine, as full production is expected to reach in the next few years, Otgonshar added.
Oyu Tolgoi, in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, is one of the largest known copper and gold deposits in the world and it is expected to be the world’s fourth largest copper mine.
Mongolia has developed skills in running mines over the past 30 years and now it is time to move to the next level, going to more value-added processing, Otgonshar said.
The government is planning to build up a copper smelter in Erdenet mine by 2025-2026 while another copper smelter at the Oyu Tolgoi mine is also under discussion, the minister said.
Overcoming past hurdles, the Mongolian government reached an agreement with Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi in January to commence underground mining operation.
As the government and Rio Tinto has resolved binding constraints, they can focus on production, processing concentrates, and produce more value-added products, Otgonshar said.
Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce around 500,000 mt of copper per year on an average from 2028 to 2036 from the open pit and underground operations, according to Rio Tinto. An average of around 350,000 mt of copper is expected to be produced from the operations for further five years. The mine produced 163,000 mt in 2021.
Coking coal
China’s coking coal supplies were strained last year at a time of huge demand as Mongolian supplies struggled due to border restrictions.
Meanwhile, shipments from Australia — China’s traditional coal supplier — remained largely absent in 2021 due to an unofficial ban, sparking volatility in coking coal prices for most part of the year.
Platts assessed premium low-vol hard coking coal CFR China more than doubled to $615/mt in October 2021 from January 2021 level, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.
Given the price increase in coking coal, it shows more demand for the product in China, Otgonshar said.
Mongolia is aiming to make a big comeback in China’s coking coal markets in 2022.
There was enough demand for Mongolia’s coking coal from China and many buyers showed increasing interests to buy more coking coal and thermal coal, even though the border challenge issues remained, Otgonshar said.
Mongolia is ready to export as much as they could to meet the demand in China, and hopefully the border issues will improve over the time, the minister added.
Transportation of Mongolian coking coal to China slowed down significantly from more than 2,000 trucks per day in 2020 to current 200-300 trucks per day.
Mongolia is looking to export 36.7 million mt of coking coal to China this year, Otgonshar said.
If realized, Mongolian shipments in 2022 would post a 161% jump from 2021 level. The country exported 14.04 million mt of coking coal to China in 2021, accounting for a quarter of China’s total imports.
...


  • Terms of Reference
  • About
  • Contact Us

Managed by: B2BMongolia www.b2bmongolia.com

Events

News

Facebook