All Mongolian citizens who were born before 2011 currently own 1072 share units in the company. According to the 2009 Human Development Fund Law, the company must distribute its shares to all citizens.

Our journalist from the News Agency clarified the situation with Minister of Mining and Heavy Industries D.Sumiyabazar. According to the minister, the coal price is stable on global markets; however, deliveries have been slowed due to the outbreak of coronavirus. The sales of coal are expected to sharply increase when the border crossing opens.

According to data from the Mongolian Customs Administration: the country earned 169.2 million U.S. dollars from coal exports to China in January 2020.

Oyu Tolgoi LLC submitted a feasibility study for the Tavan Tolgoi Power Plant (TTPP) Project, which involves building a 300 MW coal power plant at an estimated cost of about $924 million, the Anglo-Australian miner said in a statement.

The global miner said it is also working on alternative options to source domestic power, including a renewable power component.

Rio Tinto-owned Turquoise Hill Resources has a 66% stake in the multi-billion-dollar project and the Mongolian state owns 34%, with investment terms agreed in 2015 in a deal known as the Dubai Agreement.

Mongolia has been exerting pressure on Rio Tinto to revise the Oyu Tolgoi agreement terms to make it more beneficial to the country and its citizens.

(By Aby Jose Koilparambil)

In the hope of discouraging Chinese customers from declaring force majeure on contractual obligations due to the unforeseen virus outbreak, resources companies have been offering flexibility on deliveries.

The project entitled, ‘Fundamental factors for generating new continental crust in the development stage of supercontinents’ has a financing of CZK 47 million (USD 2 million). The project study will cover the territory of Mongolia, the northern part of the People’s Republic of China and southeast part of the Russian Federation.

Mongolia will play pivotal role in the project and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and technical colleges in Ulaanbaatar are engaged with the project within their established agreements that provide opportunities to conduct joint researches, exchange staff, doctoral and post-doctoral research for Mongolian specialists in the Czech Republic, as well as to promote good practices in geology of the two countries at the international level.

According to the previous results, joint research conducted by Mongolian and Czech specialists have demonstrated the possibility of significantly influencing our understanding of the growth mechanism of continents in the evolutionary process of the Earth.

Czech geologists made a significant contribution in developing the land maps of geological deposits in Mongolia. One of their most significant achievements was discovering Eredenet, the largest copper molybdenum deposit in the 1960s. Between 1999 and 2013, Czech specialists implemented development projects worth nearly USD 4 million mostly connected with geological mapping of chosen territory in Mongolia, estimating economic potential as well as making environmental audit in Erdenet.

In addition, the Czech side handed over 87 maps with a scale of 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 that approximately covered 4000 square km of Mongolia’s land area.

With a non-refundable aid of USD 3 million, several measures are currently planned for the project to be implemented in 2020-2023, such as defining options to recycle food waste in Ulaanbaatar, and developing a programme on food waste recycling with the involvement of citizens and action plan for the project .

In its framework, food waste recycling facilities are planned to be established for 10 households in 5 khoroos with the involvement of citizens, for 5 schools and 5 kindergartens with the involvement of students, and a facility to produce 2,000 kg of fertilizers daily.

In correlation with the matter, Deputy Governor of the Capital City in charge of development policy J.Batbayasgalan said, “A study has shown that one-third of total foods in the world are being thrown away as waste. Thus, international organizations deem it necessary to reduce poverty through recycling waste. Countries of each region support each other on this matter. The project is to be implemented in its framework.”

The decision to establish an implementing unit for the project on recycling food waste in Ulaanbaatar was supported at the meeting.

Global iron ore production will grow from 2,896mnt in 2019 to 3,147mnt by 2029, Fitch forecasts. This represents an average annual growth rate of 0.8% during 2020-2029, which is a significant slowdown from an average growth rate of 3.0% during 2010-2019.

Fitch forecasts iron ore production in Australia to grow minimally over 2020-2029, averaging an annual 0.7% growth, compared with 8.7% growth over the previous 10-year period. This is due to mothballing of mines from junior miners, while major players will stick to their production growth targets to crowd out high cost producers.

Supply growth will be primarily driven by India and Brazil, where Vale is planning to expand output to 390-400mnt by 2022. Fitch says Vale’s supply will continue to dominate global output, but miners in China, which operate at the higher end of the iron ore cost curve, will be forced to cut output due to falling ore grades.

Majors continue to decrease costs and increase production in the longer term. In June 2018 BHP approved the A$2.9 billion development of its South Flank iron ore project in Western Australia to replace existing mines. The world’s number one miner expects production to start in 2021 at the project.

In the same month, Rio Tinto announced plans to start developing its Koodaideri iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region in 2019, claiming it is one of the most technologically advanced in the world. The company will mine its first tonnes from the project in 2021. In May 2018, Fortescue Metals Group approved the development of a A$1.3 billion iron ore project, Eliwana, which will come online this year.

Remaining cost-competitive will be a focus for iron ore miners in a long-term weak price environment, with top firms investing in technology to maintain an edge, Fitch maintains.

“We have cut our 2020 growth forecast by 365 kb/d to 825 kb/d, the lowest since 2011. Lower-than-expected consumption in the OECD trimmed 2019 growth to 885 kb/d,” the report said.

The gloomy outlook comes as China, which accounted for more than three quarters of global oil demand growth last year, is struggling to contain the coronavirus outbreak, known as Covid-19. On Thursday, the Chinese authorities announced that the virus has already killed more than 1,300 people, while the number of cases has reached nearly 60,000.

The epidemic could shake crude prices even more than threats to security of supply, such as tensions in Iraq and a fall in Libyan oil production, the IEA notes. Prices have been plummeting since the beginning of the year, with the Brent and WTI benchmarks trading at $55.15 per barrel and $50.77 per barrel, respectively.

“The effect of the Covid-19 crisis on the wider economy means that it will be difficult for consumers to feel the benefit of lower oil prices,” the report concludes.

On Tuesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) slashed its forecast for global oil demand by 230,000 barrels per day. Some OPEC members have already called for an emergency meeting to consider new output cuts in order to prevent the market from tanking further.