Interview with Mr BATTUSHIG Batbold, an IOC member and the president of the Mongolian NOC

–Good afternoon. You recently participated in the IOC Session recently, so could you please share any noteworthy topics addressed and resolved within the Olympic Movement?

-On the 14th-17th of this month, the IOC held its 141st Session in Mumbai, India. A number of sports were discussed and approved to be added to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic program, including flag football, cricket, lacrosse, squash, and baseball/softball. Furthermore, the IOC welcomed eight new members to the organisation.

Hosting major international sports events in a country can significantly contribute to the development of sports and the economy. During the session, we reiterated our eagerness to organise the 2027 IOC Session in Mongolia and expressed our interest in hosting the Youth Olympic Games in either 2030 or 2034 to the Future Host Commission.

–Could you tell me about some of the notable accomplishments of the Mongolian NOC since you assumed the presidency a year and a half ago?

-On March 28, 2022, the Mongolian NOC held its VIII Assembly and elected the new leadership team. Since then, we successfully changed the Statutes, and increased the quotaof female members on the Executive Board and implemented various measures to support good governance, following the recommendations and guidelines of the IOC.

The Mongolian NOC thoroughly supported the East Asian Youth Games, which took place in Ulaanbaatar from August 12-19, collaborating closely with the organising committee, government institutions, and other relevant organisations to ensure the successful organisation of the Games. The participant athletes were enthusiastic and in good spirits throughout the event.

In addition, the Mongolian National Olympic Committeesuccessfully organised the first Mongolian Beach Games between September 16-17 in Mandalgovi, Dundgovi province. Over 120 athletes from 14 organisations across 4 provinces, 3 universities, 2 sports committees, and 5 sports clubs competed in badminton, volleyball, teqball, and wrestling. In the future, this Beach Games is planned to be held regularly on a broader scale.

From September 23 to October 8, the Asian Games were held in Hangzhou, China, after being postponed for one year due to the pandemic. The Mongolian NOC has been responsible for the organisation of Team Mongolia and is set to hold a meeting soon to assess the performance and reports of the athletes who participated in the games.

Moreover, we have submitted requests to implement various IOC Solidarity and Olympic Council of Asia projects, and we are striving to ensure their accessibility to all nationalfederations.

Foreign relations and partnerships with other national Olympic Committees and international federations have strong influence on the development of sports. As such, we’re putting more focus on this area. One of our top priorities is to exchange knowledge and experience with highly developed sports communities from other countries and organise joint training sessions with international athletes, which are incredibly effective.

Additionally, we’re excited to announce the “Mongolia House” project. This initiative aims to promote Mongolian culture, traditions, and brand to foreign guests and athletes by constructing a traditional Mongolian “Ger”, during the Paris 2024 Olympics. Last week in Paris, I signed an agreement on the implementation of the Mongolia House project, and I am delighted to share this news with you.

-What is the stance of the Mongolian NOC on the recent news about two Mongolian athletes who were found to be doping during their participation in the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games? Additionally, there have been concerns about Mongolia’s participation in the Olympic Games under the white flag due to information circulating about the complications in the Mongolian Anti-Doping Organisation. Can you provide any insight on this matter?

-It is regretful that doping was tested positive in two of our athletes who participated in the Asian Games. The athletes now have the option to request a retest of their “B” sample and appeal to the court of sports arbitration which is within their right. As for us, the Mongolian National Olympic Committee, we fully comply with the World Anti-Doping Organization (WADA) regulations and are committed to safeguarding our athletes’ welfare and promoting fair play.

Recently, there has been a lot of misinformation in the public media regarding the Mongolian NOC’s ability to remove the Mongolian Anti-Doping Association, and create a new one. Additionally, there have been claims that the Mongolian NOC is not taking a stand or paying attention to the issue of doping. However, an official statement has been released by the Mongolian NOC to address these concerns.

As per Article 20.5.1 of the Codex of the WADA, the Mongolian NOC is not allowed to intervene in the internal matters of the Mongolian Anti-Doping Association. Despite this, since it came to our attention, we’ve made repeated efforts to work with the Mongolian Anti-Doping Association to resolve the issues concerned. Our First Vice-President, Ch. Naranbaatar and Vice-President O. Odbayar are working on this matter in collaboration with the government and the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports as part of the National Anti-Doping Council to approve the National Anti-Doping Rules.

We have been regularly communication with World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) and relevant authorities on finding effective solutions to prevent the problem from happening again. The Mongolian NOC offers athletes access to information on doping, including online training that meets the standards set by international federations.

The reason behind the problem we understand rose from the outstanding invoices of the tests of the athletes who participated in the “Tokyo 2020” and “Beijing 2022” Olympic Games, which had not been paid for couple years. The State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports and the Mongolian Anti-Doping Association failed to resolve the fees for the tests for an extended period.

On July 4th, the Mongolian NOC sent a letter to the Mongolian Anti-Doping Association regarding the situation and problems. However, the Mongolian Anti-Doping Association submitted a rebuttal to the concerns on August 4th, 2023.

However, then WADA released a statement stating that if the issues remained unresolved, it would be deliberated upon at the WADA Executive Council meeting in September, and there is a possibility that the Mongolian team may compete under the white flag.

Once again, I want to highlight that the Mongolian NOC has made a request to the WADA, collaborated with relevant institutions in all areas, and suggested a timely payment method to government institutions. In essence, the Mongolian NOC has helped to resolve the issues and acted as a mediator to connect everyone involved.

In a recent interview with the press, Ts. Magaljav, the President of the National Traditional Wrestling Federation, made some unfortunately untrue statements. He claimed that the Mongolian NOC caused the doping problem, but this is not the case. Before the recent “Naadam” festival, President Ts. Magaljav and I had a meeting where we discussed the Mongolian NOC’s support for traditional sports, including Mongolian traditional wrestling. We also discussed ways to promote traditional wrestling to the world through the “Mongolia House” project, which will take place during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as Mongolian traditional wrestling is very unique.

Mongolian traditional wrestling enthusiasts are concerned about the National Traditional Wrestling Federation’s recurring doping issue, which remains unresolved. The federation’s primary responsibility is safeguarding its athletes from doping and collaborating with the Mongolian Anti-Doping Association to prevent it. This is the main objective of the federation, but the persistence of the problem suggests that the Mongolian Traditional Wrestling Federation is not adequately fulfilling its anti-doping obligations under the WADA code and these issues are being politicized leading to spillovers to the Olympic sports and athletes in the media.

The World Anti-Doping Agency suggested that the Mongolian Anti-Doping Association should function independently and not as a member organization of the Mongolian NOC due to a conflict of interest. As a result, the Mongolian NOC will evaluate the possibility of removing Mongolian NADO as member of our NOC.

Just a quick side note, there was an official meeting organized by the Mongolian NOC during the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games between Sports Minister B. Bat-Erdene and Director General of the WADA Oliver Niggli. They shared opinions on improving the rules of the Mongolian Anti-Doping Association and the general law on doping before the Executive Council of the WADA meets in January next year. I believe this is one example of how we are trying to help this situation.

– “What is your stance on the current situation regarding the land of the Mongolian NOC, which has received much attention lately?”

-In 2012, I understand the leadership of that time and the Mongolian NOC executive board transferred some of their land to sports federations for sports-related activities and construction of sports facilities, as per the decision of the Executive Council.

I became the First Vice-President of the Mongolian NOC in 2017 and then assumed the role of President in 2022 therefore these issues were before my time.

Approximately three hectares of land behind the Mongolian NOC were initially transferred for sports use to the baseballand rugby federations as well as Olympic training center NGO. However, when the new management took over, the sites were repurposed, so it was no longer legally possible for us to participate in any way. Despite this, we have sent official letters and recommendations to relevant organisations including the City Government about the retention and use of even some of these areas for sports purpose.

Since we brought up this issue, there has been an number of false information and slander directed at the management of the Mongolian NOC.

Rather than continuing to spread misinformation about our activities, we urge the sports enthusiasts to embrace your passion for sports and support our efforts to preserve the land for sports pursuits and for children and youth to practice and play sports.

By enhancing and expanding sports facilities, our country can potentially host the upcoming Asian Games and Youth Olympic Games. To achieve this goal, the Mongolian NOC has conducted a comprehensive study of sports facilities and is considering a phased construction plan. One of the proposed projects is the construction of a multi-sport complex, also known as the “Olympic Arena,” in areas like Khushig Valley and Khui Doloon Khudag. The research suggests that building a sports complex farther from the city would not add to the traffic congestion in Ulaanbaatar city and would have positive outcomes, including neighbourhood housing for affordable housing projects that can help move people from the Ger Districts to housing, that would help decrease the pollution of Ulaanbaatar city as it would decrease the use of coal burning in these Ger’s to head their homes.

Thank you very much for your time, and I wish you Good luck to all of these endeavors for the development of sports in Mongolia.

Mongolia’s foreign trade turnover expanded by 16.9 percent year on year to USD 20.1 billion in the first 10 months of this year, according to data released by the country’s National Statistics Office

The country registered a surplus of USD 4.9 billion in foreign trade balance, mainly due to a significant increase in the exports of mining products, which accounted for over 90 percent of the mineral-rich country’s total exports in the January-October period.

The Asian country traded with 161 economies worldwide in the period.

IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto and the President of Mongolia have held high-level talks on measures to further streamline trade and professionalise the country’s road transport industry. A rapidly evolving transit and transport hub, Mongolia can cement its land-linked status with tried-and-tested UN conventions and professionalisation, IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto stressed during his meeting with U.Khurelsukh, the President of Mongolia.

Mongolia has already made significant development gains over recent years. IRU encourages Mongolia to continue acceding to other key UN conventions in addition to TIR and CMR to further elevate its role as a trade and transit hub.

Umberto de Pretto also emphasised that TIR is the key trade facilitation tool ensuring seamless cross-border movements and enabling the implementation of the WTO’s Agreement on Trade Facilitation and the UNESCAP’s Agreement on the Asian Highway Network.

The two also discussed the ongoing professionalisation of Mongolia’s road transport industry. IRU member the National Road Transport Association of Mongolia (NARTAM) is continuing its efforts to establish a framework for harmonised training, compliant with high-level international quality standards. With support from regional development partners, IRU and NARTAM will launch a major project to implement IRU Academy training programmes in 2024.

Umberto de Pretto also congratulated the President for coming from a family of heroes, as his parents and brothers were drivers, highlighting that this year’s IRU Grand Prix d’Honneur was awarded to all commercial drivers for their heroism during the pandemic, natural disasters and conflicts.

The focus was put on additional road transport capacity-building initiatives related to the geographical expansion of Mongolian operations, the transport of dangerous and perishable goods, as well as soft measures, notably the full deployment of TIR-EPD, allowing transport companies to send advance cargo information to customs for better risk management, and the implementation of express TIR Green Lanes at borders between Mongolia and its neighbours.

A UN expert welcomed steps Mongolia has taken to improve the independence of its judiciary since its transition to democracy in 1990, in particular the strides taken to implement human rights recommendations made by international bodies.

“Mongolia must seize the moment to complete the transformation it has begun,” said Margaret Satterthwaite, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers at the end of her official visit to the country. “I welcome Mongolia’s evidence-based approach to reform and call for further action to solidify an independent justice system with human rights at its core.”

The Special Rapporteur visited courts and prosecutors’ offices in Ulaanbaatar, Selenge province, Mandal soum, and the district of Baganuur, where she met with committed professionals. She also witnessed the damaging impact of the lack of investment on the judiciary, including inadequate, inaccessible, and insecure facilities for judges, staff and court users. “Mongolian Judges are underpaid and often overworked,” the expert said. “Together with their assistants, they deserve to be recognised for their dedication in the face of these difficult conditions.”

Satterthwaite urged Mongolia to provide robust funding to secure the future of the justice system, including by dedicating a guaranteed percentage of the national budget to the judiciary.

Measures comparable to those taken to strengthen the judiciary should now be implemented in the prosecutorial service. “Appointments, transfers and promotions should have an objective and transparent basis,” she said. “In addition, an independent body should be established to oversee discipline and provide accountability.”

The Special Rapporteur commended civil society for their work to assess and monitor the independence of the judiciary. She was concerned that surveys highlighted a lack of trust in the judiciary and heard that social media is being used to disparage judges, including by holders of public office. “It is imperative that the government take measures to rebuild public trust,” Satterthwaite said. “This is an opportunity for the government to better explain the important role the judiciary plays in upholding a fair system where everyone can participate equally.”

Satterthwaite observed that the government is responsible for protecting the rights of all people in Mongolia and ensuring they have access to justice without discrimination. “I call on all actors to support and complement the essential work undertaken by civil society organisations to extend access to justice, including to rural herders, persons with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community.”

The expert will present a report containing her findings and recommendations on the visit to the Human Rights Council in June 2024.

Minister of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia Bat-Erdene Bat-Ulzii met Ambassador of Germany Helmut Rudolf Kulitz Head of the Development Cooperation Department Ido Weber, Montsame reported.

Minister B. Bat-Erdene expressed gratitude for jointly implementing projects and programs through the Green Climate Fund, Global Environmental Facility, and Adaptation Fund and for concerning the issue of permafrost in Mongolia. The Minister also emphasized that the two countries have been developing cooperation in forests, biological diversity, nature protection, and climate change for a long time.

Ambassador Helmut Kulitz emphasized the call by international financial institutions not to finance activities that harm the environment. Noting that investment in environmental protection can be increased, Helmut Kulitz asked to bring together similar ideas and views of the two countries at the upcoming 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), which convenes in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 30 to December 12.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism is working with professional organizations to finalize action plans on climate change adaptation within 2023. Climate change mitigation involves many issues including agriculture, pastures, land use, water, forests, desertification, and soil and vegetation protection. The two sides agreed to convene with the participation of experts of the two sides before the COP28 Conference to coordinate their actions.

Minister Bat-Erdene noted that a majority of tourists who visited Mongolia in 2023 were from France, and he stressed that Mongolia is interested in increasing the flow of tourists from Germany. As the government announced 2023-2025 as the Years to Visit Mongolia and referring to the experience as a co-organizer in the international exhibitions ITB Berlin and CMT, the Minister requested support for the Years to Visit Mongolia to promote the tourism industry.

China and Mongolia conducted the "Border Defense Cooperation-2023" joint exercise on Nov. 10, China's Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday.

The exercise was carried out in the border region near a prefecture in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for the ministry.

Concentrated on joint actions between the two countries to curb border crimes, the event involved drills on joint command, joint reconnaissance, operational disposition and joint action, Zhang said, adding that the exercise has enhanced the two militaries' operational capabilities of safeguarding the security and stability in border regions.

The two sides also organized activities such as weapons and equipment displays, and other military-related cultural exchanges after the exercise, Zhang said.

After completing a massive infill and extension campaign at its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia, Xanadu Mines has shifted its focus to new discoveries outside the site’s current mineral resource.

The company is now operating three diamond drill rigs at Kharmagtai, with four deep holes planned to target mineralisation below its biggest deposit identified to date at White Hill. Results from the first hole sunk at White Hill have already extended the mineralised system by more than 600m, with a massive 1080m intercept grading 0.06 grams per tonne gold and 0.17 per cent copper from 491m for 0.21 per cent copper equivalent or 0.41g/t gold equivalent.

Xanadu says the deep drill campaign has been designed to ensure that a potential high-grade, large-scale and deeper “Oyu Tolgoi”-style deposit is discovered early in the prefeasibility process, allowing optimal infrastructure decisions to be made. Oyu Tolgoi, in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, is one of the world’s biggest known copper and gold deposits.

Shallow drilling at a second cluster has also extended mineralisation 800m along strike from the current mineral resource limit and within proximity of the company’s high-grade Stockwork Hill deposit. Initial drilling results show a 144m intercept at 0.18g/t gold and 0.25 per cent copper that management believes may be a faulted offset of Stockwork Hill.

Three more clusters are being targeted with a focus on extensions to known deposits and new porphyry copper-gold systems. An additional 9000m of diamond drilling has been completed in 41 shallow holes, with more than half returning significant intercepts.

Highlights show a 15m hit at 1.26 per cent copper from 127m including 5.95m grading 2.97 per cent from 132m.

Kharmagtai has a mineral resource estimate of 1.1 billion tonnes for 3 million tonnes of contained copper and 8 million ounces of gold. Management expects to provide an updated mineral resource before the end of this year, while its prefeasibility study (PFS) is due to be completed during the second half of next year.

Following the completion of more than 52,000 metres of infill and extensional drilling at Kharmagtai, our focus has shifted to the very exciting deep and shallow discovery drilling; aimed at making new economic discoveries outside the current MRE. Following successful delivery of higher-grade mineralisation from the infill and extensional drilling program, this purposeful program represents our most significant exploration pursuit in recent years.

Xanadu Mines vice president exploration Dr Andrew Stewart

Earlier this year, the company completed two phases of its strategic partnership with Chinese copper giant Zijin Mining, giving it access to funding for its current round of exploration.

The deal saw Zijin invest US$35 million (AU$52 million), funds which will also be used to complete the Kharmagtai prefeasibility study. A 50-50 joint venture has been created between the two partners at a project level, with Xanadu the operator on the ground.

The partnership has allocated 18 months to knock over its PFS, while an earlier scoping study identified several upside opportunities that could materially upgrade the economics of the project.

One of the reasons the early Chinese emperors built the Great Wall was to stop the invasion of Mongolian hordes. With the size and scope of the copper-gold resource Xanadu is building at Kharmagtai, the sentiment between the two countries may now have been reversed.

Australia’s lithium and nickel producer IGO (ASX: IGO) is standing by its incoming chief executive officer, Ivan Vella, after Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) sacked on Wednesday its former aluminum boss for an alleged breach of confidentiality.

Vella, who spent two decades at Rio Tinto, was already due to leave the mining giant in December. He is set to replace acting CEO Matt Dusci, who took the reins after former top executive Peter Bradford suddenly died last year.

IGO’s board has been under fire over its costly takeover of rival Western Areas, but it was the impending arrival of Vella which sparked a response from chairman Mike Nossal.

Incoming chief executive officer, Ivan Vella. (Image courtesy of IGO.)

“I need to acknowledge the news overnight which relates to Ivan’s departure from his previous employer,” he said in Thursday’s shareholder meeting.

“The Board is engaging with Ivan to more deeply understand the circumstances … however, it is our expectation that Ivan will start with IGO in early December as planned,” Nossal said.

Shares in the battery metals producer fell 4.3% to A$8.85 each by Thursday’s close as IGO also said it had missed the lower end of production guidance at one of its nickel mines due to a fire at its Nova nickel-copper-cobalt mine’s power plant.

IGO flagged a material writedown of nearly A$1 billion in the June financial year due to ballooning capital costs at its newly acquired Cosmos nickel project in Western Australia.

Year-to-date the stock has lost almost 33% of its value, leaving the Perth-based miner with a market capitalization of A$6.7 billion ($4.3bn).