Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. “Thirteen new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Mongolia, all in Ulaanbaatar, after involving 12,200 people in PCR testing nationwide yesterday, January 6,” reported A.Ambaselmaa, Head of Surveillance Department of the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD, today.

“Of the newly confirmed cases, ten cases are related to infections at Achtan Elite private hospital, two are contacts of the previously confirmed cases at the Bayanzurkh district hospital, and one case is a person working in the Golomt bank branch in Bayanzurkh district,” said A. Ambaselmaa. She also recommended people, who received services at the Golomt Bank next to Cinema Factory in Bayanzurkh district since December 28, 2020, be tested at their respective testing units.

Today, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Mongolia has reached 1362, with 889 recoveries. Currently, 462 people are undergoing treatment at hospitals.

U.S.Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence Heino Klinckand Mongolia Ministry of Defence State Secretary D.Gankhuyag have held a virtual meeting to conduct the 17th annual U.S.-Mongolia Bilateral Consultative Council. Because of the time difference, the meeting took place onJan.5 (Washington, D.C.) and Jan.6 (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia).

Mongolian Minister of Defence G.Saikhanbayar provided the closing remarks.

The officials reaffirmed their commitment to the U.S.-Mongolia bilateral relationship and agreed to advance defence cooperation on matters of common interest to support a free and open Indo-Pacific.

DASD Klinck thanked State Secretary Gankhuyag for Mongolia’s commitment to international peace and stability, including Mongolia’s continued contributions to coalition efforts in Afghanistan and United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.

DASD Klinck also discussed current regional security issues and ties between Mongolia and the United States under the third-neighbour framework.

Officials committed to enhance defence cooperation and collaboration to address current security challenges and to advance common interests.

Erdene Resource Development (TSX:ERD) announced on Wednesday a new gold discovery 3.5 km north of its Bayan Khundii project in Mongolia.

According to the company, drilling highlights include hole AAD-58 that returned 45 metres of 5.97 g/t gold beginning at 10 metres down-hole, including 1 metre of 82.5 g/t gold within 8 metres of 27.1 g/t gold.

The Bayan Khundii gold resource includes 521,000 ounces of 3.16 g/t gold measured and indicated and 103,000 ounces of inferred resources at 3.68 g/t gold.

A significant exploration program is planned for Q1 2021, Erdene said in a press release.

“The Dark Horse prospect has been established as the most significant zone of gold mineralization since our discovery of the Bayan Khundii gold deposit,” said Peter Akerley, Erdene’s President and CEO.

The phase II Dark Horse drill program was completed in early December 2020 with an additional 3,085 metres drilled in 14 holes. In total, Erdene drilled 4,660 metres in 25 holes in 2020.

Bayan Khundii deposit is located in southwestern Mongolia, within the Khundii Gold District, approximately 16 kilometres south of the Altan Nar deposit. A Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for the deposit suggests an average annual gold production of 61,000 ounces, and 45,300 ounces of gold and 205,000

ounces of silver.

Midday Wednesday, Erdene’s stock was up 8% on the TSE. The company has a C$124 million market capitalization.

On January 4, 2021, a working meeting between Nikolay Kosov, Chairperson of the IIB Management Board, and Mr. Dulamsurengiin Davaa, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the Russian Federation, took place in the Bank’s Moscow Branch.

During the meeting, head of IIB spoke about institution’s main activities, presented information on current and prospective projects implemented in Mongolia, and shared strategic plans of IIB in the market.

Nikolay Kosov emphasized that currently the volume of the IIB loan and investment portfolio allocated in the interests of Mongolian projects is approaching EUR 80 million. In total, since the beginning of the Bank's relaunch in 2012, the accumulated volume of IIB's investments in Mongolia has exceeded EUR 242 million.

IIB provides support to such key sectors of the national economy as mining and textile industry, financial sector, metallurgy, agriculture. Support for SMEs, executed in close cooperation with the country's leading financial institutions, is also a strategic priority of IIB's work. In addition, the current pipeline includes a number of new investment initiatives for a total volume of more than EUR 110 million.

The head of the diplomatic mission of Mongolia in the Russian Federation highly appreciated the IIB’s efforts aimed at supporting the country's economy and developing its trade and economic ties with other member states of the Bank. Mr. Davaa noted that the countries government is fully satisfied with the impressive results of the current activities of the institution and intends to continue providing comprehensive assistance in the implementation of its ambitious strategy and additional capitalization programme.

Special attention on the agenda was given to the issues of the Bank's support of initiatives in the field of sustainable development of Mongolia and IIB's charity activities, traditionally aimed at significant environmental initiatives. Noting the importance of projects that already received the financial support of the Bank, in particular, the conservation of rare species of animals and the restoration of peat bogs in the Tuul River basin, carried out in close partnership with the Academy of Sciences of Mongolia, the parties agreed to continue their cooperation in this field.

Also during the meeting, the head of the IIB Moscow Branch, Grigory Gruzinov was awarded the honorary title "The Best Financial Officer" on behalf of the Mongolian Financial Regulation Commission for his significant contribution to the development of the national system of combating money laundering. Within the framework of the Technical Assistance Fund for IIB Member States, the Bank in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance of Slovakia, provided support to the Financial Regulatory Commission of Mongolia in improving the country's anti-money laundering legislation. Mongolia's successes in combating money laundering have been recognized by leading international organizations in this area.

As 2020 meant a slowdown in coal production and use, experts and governments were confident that the industry would pick up again as pandemic restrictions eased.

However, going into 2021, it seems coal is not set to make a comeback. Pre-2020, South and Southeast Asia looked to become the biggest coal-demand region in the world, with several countries investing heavily in extraction and coal plants. But as the implications of Covid-19 took a toll on the industry around the world, the anticipated bright future of coal in Asia is looking increasingly uncertain.

According to a report published by Global Energy Monitor (GEM), large emerging Asian economies Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam cancelled as much as 45GW of coal power during 2020. While coal appeared the obvious answer for short-term energy supply across Asia, the experience of the energy sector in 2020 has made many look towards renewables for the future of energy.

In Vietnam, the draft Power Development Plan outlined plans to cancel seven coal plants and postpone six more until the 2030s, which may never be developed. These account for approximately half of the country’s planned coal development.

In December in Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that no more coal plants would be constructed in the country. The cancellation of coal plants was also announced in The Philippines in November.

Many of these cancellations come in response to a lack of funding in the sector. Public pressure on banks to move away from fossil fuels towards renewables has driven many institutions to withdraw funding from coal production.

For example, in December the Malaysian bank CIMB announced its exit strategy to phase out coal financing, having invested $2.6 billion in coal over the last decade. It was the first major bank in an emerging economy to state such plans.

CIMB aims to support the objectives of the Paris Agreement by phasing out coal financing by 2040. Tim Buckley from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) explained, “This admirable move is expected to be the catalyst for a range of CIMB peers across [South-East Asia] to better align their lending practices with the technology driven energy system disruption that is accelerating as 2020 unfolds.”

Similarly, the AES Corporation announced the sale of its interest in the 1,242 MW Mong Duong 2 coal-fired power plant in Vietnam last week, expected to take place at the end of 2021. AES CEO Andrés Gluski stated, “we look forward to contributing to the country's transition to a more sustainable energy future.” He made clear the company’s intention to invest in renewables moving forward, continuing to invest in energy in Vietnam and other areas of Asia.

While many suggested a ‘renaissance’ of the coal industry throughout 2020, this is looking evermore doubtful. Several big funds are moving away from coal, including Australia’s biggest super fund, AustralianSuper, and Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global; which has a tight cap on its coal investments.

In addition to a reduction in financing from major funders, energy companies are themselves hinting at a movement away from coal. Glenmore, the western world’s biggest coal producer, stated plans for a “managed decline of its coal business” and net-zero emissions by 2050 in its annual investor update. This suggests a gradual but eventual shift away from coal.

Generally, despite optimism for a coal comeback throughout 2020, the realities of 2021 suggest otherwise. Pressure to invest more heavily in renewables and the lack of economic incentive to develop the coal industry further means that the coal era may be coming to an end.

This article was originally published on Oilprice.com

(Reuters) - The Trump administration is considering adding Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd to a blacklist of Chinese companies that are allegedly owned or controlled by the Chinese military, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which said the plan was still under deliberation and may not go through as agencies debate its impact on markets. (on.wsj.com/3nngMYB)

Alibaba and Tencent shares were both down roughly 3% in morning trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares closed down just over 5% on the news on Wednesday, but were roughly flat in after hours trading.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Ant Group’s Alipay mobile payment app, escalating tensions with Beijing two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Alibaba and Tencent did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru, and Andrea Shalal and Alexandra Alper in Washington; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Edwina Gibbs

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. At today’s daily briefing of the Ministry of Health, Head of Surveillance Department of the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) A.Ambaselmaa reported that 41 new cases of COVID-19 detected in Ulaanbaatar city after involving 16377 people in PCR testing.

Of the newly confirmed cases, five are health workers of the NCCD and the rest are those related to other cluster infections in the city. On January 4, nine cases were detected at Achtan Elite private hospital newly and 16 more cases have been confirmed there while five public bus drivers of Tenuun Ognoo company have had positive test results. All the newly detected cases were under isolation, noted Ms.Ambaselmaa.

As of today, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Mongolia reached 1349, with 887 recoveries. In addition, three patients discharged from the hospital in the past 24 hours.

Currently, there are 451 people undergoing treatment.

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. Yesterday, January 5, Minister of Energy N.Tavinbekh visited some thermal power plants in Ulaanbaatar to check the operation, loads, and resources of the power plants during winter peak loads.

The renovation of the turbo generator №3 of TPP IV state-owned company has been completed and is ready for operation. As a result, the TPP IV capacity of generating power will increase by 110 MW.

Emphasizing their high responsibilities during the strict lockdown and the period of winter peak loads, the Minister of Energy assigned the TPP authorities to conduct timely disinfection and follow professional organizations' instructions.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Khan Bank has successfully concluded long-term financing agreements worth USD 24.8 million with the Covid-19 Emerging & Frontier Markets MSME Support Fund and BlueOrchard Microfinance Fund, investment funds managed by BlueOrchard, a leading Swiss-based impact investment management company, and German-based fund manager Frankfurt School Financial Services GmbH, just before the start of the new year.

The Bank has raised the necessary funds for supporting the long-term financing needs of its micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) clients during these challenging economic times being faced due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Obtaining these funds during such a challenging period for the wider global economy is a testament to the financial strength, stable growth, and good governance of the Bank, as well as the Bank’s long-term cooperation and trust established with these institutes” says in the press release of the Bank.

"BlueOrchard and Frankfurt School Financial Services GmbH have both provided financing to Khan Bank in the past, and mutual cooperation is further strengthened with these new financing agreements."

The metallurgical coal and infrastructure company plans to export up to 4 million tonnes of coking coal to China once its Ovoot Project in Mongolia comes into production.

Aspire Mining Ltd – Aspire Mining’s Mongolian project poised to benefit from China’s rumoured shift away from Australian coal. The company’s share price doubled last week after speculation about a Chinese ban on Australian coal. Aspire Mining Ltd is the only ASX-listed company to have coking coal assets in Mongolia and could be well-placed to benefit from recent speculation that China is shifting away from Australian coal. The company owns the world-class Ovoot Coking Coal Project, and while rumours around the Chinese sentiment focus on thermal coal, the company experienced a sharp share price bump last week as investors anticipated a complete coal ban.

Last Monday, the company sat at around 7.2 cents per share and after Chinese State Media alluded to restrictions on Australian coal and a refocus to prioritise imports from Mongolia, Russia and Indonesia, the share price doubled before levelling out at around 8.6 cents. China recently introduced tariffs on Australian goods including wine, barley and beef and the unofficial coal ban has only increased tensions between the two countries.

Coal market in Mongolia

Mongolian coking coal export volumes to China have been recovering from a border shutdown between the two countries earlier in the year. For the six months ended June 2020, China imported 7.2 million tonnes of coking coal from Mongolia (a 56% decline from the prior year) while imports from Australia rose 65% year-on-year to 24 million tonnes. However, for the balance of the second half of the year Mongolian coking coal exports are expected to revert to more normalised levels while Australian exports to China slow. In September 2020 Mongolia exported 3.9 million tonnes to China, which represented 58% of China’s coking coal exports. In contrast, Australia exported just 2 million tonnes to China that month.

The first news of curtailments to Australian coal imports was reported in October, placing Aspire in the perfect position to benefit from any increase in Mongolian exports going forward.

Ovoot Project development

The company is targeting early production of washed coking coal from a first-stage development of the Ovoot Project, known as the Ovoot Early Development Plan (OEDP). The start of development is linked to the completion of the Definitive Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA), which has been impacted with access the site to commence the ground activities halted by the deferral of local community engagement meetings due to COVID-19 control measures. The OEDP and pre-feasibility study is focused on a truck and rail operation to deliver up to 4 million tonnes per annum to end markets in China and Russia.

September trial shipment

During the September quarter, a trial shipment of 3,300 tonnes of coking coal was moved by rail from an existing mine in Mongolia to the city of Ulanqab in China, which after beneficiation will be railed further to Tangshan and the Port of Caofeidian. This is an important target market for Ovoot coking coal as the company plans to truck coking coal from the mine site to access rail at the city of Erdenet.

Strong financial outlook

At the end of the September quarter, the company was fully cashed up, with a cash balance of A$38.5 million to fund the Ovoot Project development and no debt. This strong financial outlook is partially due to a $33.5 million placement in September 2019, which saw major shareholder Tserenpuntsag Tserendamba increase his holding to 51% and strategically reposition Aspire as a Mongolian led company. Notably, the placement price was 2.1 cents per share, and with a share consolidation of 10 to 1 in December 19– makes for a placement price the equivalent of 21 cents today which is substantially higher than the current share price.

Funding commitments through to production

In addition, financial support is secure with Tserenpuntsag supplying a letter of intent around provision of a corporate guarantee for up to $100 million to support future project financing for the OEDP and pro-rata equity contributions to maintain a 51% shareholding in Aspire alongside all shareholders to fund Ovoot into production. The company is confident that the development of the Ovoot Coking Coal Project will leave Aspire well placed to take advantage of any shift from China away from Australian coal.