BoM: Mongolia will exit greylist in 2020 www.zgm.mn

Mongolia will be removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s grey list within 2020, said the Bank of Mongolia (BoM). Mongolia has been included on a list of countries monitored by an international agency that polices anti-money laundering activities and terrorism financing couple of weeks earlier.Erdembbileg Ochirkhuu, First Deputy Governor of BoM stated that Mongolia will not have serious problems such as delaying foreign settlements due to the watch list. He said, “We are working with a plan to get out of greylist in 2020. The four indicators of FATF’s recommendation that have been evaluated as unsatisfactory can be improved in the short-term. Also, payment and transaction fee has not increased since the inclusion in greylist. FATF’s International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) has already completed Mongolia’s risk evaluation in 2017.”During the FATF Plenary and Working Group meetings took place in Paris, Mongolia pledged to implement its action plan, including improving sectoral money laundering and terrorist financing risk understanding by Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession (DNFBP) supervisors, applying a riskbased approach to supervision, demonstrating increased inves-tigations and prosecutions of different types of money laun-dering activity in line with identified risks and applying effective, proportionate and dissua sive sanctions.“The grey list is not a bank debt issue. The FATF evaluates the legal framework and system for detec ting money laundering and terrorism,” addressed Ayush Dunk huu, Director General of Bank of Mongolia’s Legal Department. According to the follow-up report to Mongolia’s assessment of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures, the country has undertaken a number of secto ral assessments including for NBFIs since 2017 mutual eva luation report (MER). The risk assessments of real estate and terrorist financing (TF) are recognized as positive, though it is difficult to fully appreciate what an average or moderate rating for TF means in the context of Mongolia. The global body said Mongolia had taken steps to improve its cooperation in the fight against money laundering, but that it needs to do continue enhancing its legal framework through legis lative measures and guidance to be removed from the grey list.

Ch.Ulaan: Special attention to be paid on developing specialized export consulting service www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ To develop food, agriculture and light industry sectors which are important part of Government's three-pillar development policy, ‘Mongol Export’ program will be implemented at stages, underlined Minister Ch.Ulaan in his opening speech at Export Mongolia-2019, the First International Business Forum kicked off today at Corporate Convention Center.

Mongolia’s foreign exchange reserve reaches USD 3.9 billion www.news.mn

According to the Central Bank of Mongolia, also known as Mongol Bank, the national foreign currency reserve has hit USD 3.9 billion. This will cover the country’s demand of foreign currency for nine months’ import trade.

Rio Tinto says miners need to leverage technology as scrutiny of the industry rises www.mining.com

Mining companies should make more use of technology to respond to increasing demands from investors and communities for responsible mining practices, Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques said on Monday.

Will Mongolia get off the grey list 2020? www.news.mn

Having failed to adequately comply with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), concerning anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures, Mongolia has been added to the FATF’s grey list along with Iraq, Zimbabwe and N.Korea.

North Korea to give China right to mine rare earths in return for investment in solar plants – report www.rt.com

China could gain access to a rare earth mine in North Korea in exchange for investment in solar energy, a Chinese industry association website said. The deal could ease North Korea’s chronic power shortages.
According to the Association of China Rare Earth Industry, building a solar power plant capable of producing 2.5 million kilowatts of electricity each day in inland areas like North Pyongan would cost around $2.5 billion. China’s reward for investing would be mining rights to a rare earth mine on the province’s borders.

Petro Matad announces results of testing at Heron-1 in the north of Block XX, eastern Mongolia www.energy-pedia.com

Petro Matad, the AIM quoted Mongolian oil explorer, has announced the results of well testing operations at its Heron-1 oil discovery in the north of Block XX, eastern Mongolia, adjacent to the producing Block XIX, operated by PetroChina.

Highlights

Positive results of well testing operations at Heron-1 oil discovery in the north of Block XX
DST2 flowed oil at a peak rate of 821 bopd
Produced 46 API oil, without need for artificial lift or stimulation, exceptional for the Tamsag Basin
DST1 did not flow naturally but proved at least a 70 metre oil column in the well
Company will incorporate all data from the 2019 drilling campaign into rapid reinterpretation of Block XX in order to apply for an Exploitation Licence from the Government of Mongolia
Intervals for two separate cased hole drill stem tests ('DST'") were chosen based on the petrophysical analysis of log data acquired over the 77 metres of potential oil reservoir in the Lower Tsagaantsav Formation in the Heron-1 well. The first test was performed over a three metre zone at 2,872 metres, near the base of the sands seen in the well. This zone proved to be tight with very limited inflow recorded. Oil was present in the test string when the tools were recovered to surface indicating that the zone is indeed oil-bearing and so proving an oil column height of at least 70 metres in the well. The pressure data from DST1 is now being analysed and will be used by specialist reservoir stimulation experts that the Company has retained to determine if improvements in permeability could be achieved to allow this zone to flow.

DST2 was performed over a 12 metre interval from 2,834 metres in the upper portion of the Lower Tsagaantsav Formation. The zone flowed oil and some associated gas to surface without the need for any artificial lift. This is exceptional for the Tamsag Basin where only a few of the hundreds of wells drilled have had the capability to produce oil to surface on natural flow. The peak production recorded during the test was 821 barrels of oil per day ("bopd"). For the main flow period, the well was choked back on an 0.3-inchchoke to optimise the collection of pressure data. Through this period, the well flowed at an average rate of 200 bopd with a well head flowing pressure of 250 psi. The oil recovered is very light, with an API gravity of 46 degrees making it one of the lightest oils recorded in the basin. This may be a function of Heron-1 being one of the deeper discovery wells so far drilled and tested in the area. No formation water was produced during the test. The well has now been shut in for pressure build up and once the test is complete and all samples and pressure data have been gathered the test equipment and the service rig will be demobilised and the Heron-1 well will be suspended.

Given the capacity of the well to flow naturally to surface at what is clearly a commercial flow rate, the well will not be subject to any reservoir stimulation operations at this time. The test data will now be analysed to determine the sustainable deliverability of the well on natural flow and what rate the reservoir could be expected to sustain if the well is pumped. The data will also be used to investigate what impact reservoir stimulation could be expected to have on the well's production characteristics in the future including analysis of the additional oil-bearing intervals in the well that have not yet been tested.

The Company had assigned a pre-drill resource estimated for the Heron structure of 165 million barrels of in place oil, with 25 million barrels (P50) recoverable resource, based on a recovery factor of 15%. The Heron-1 flowrate is very encouraging and could indicate that the assumed recovery factor is too conservative, however more wells will be required to prove up the total volumes in the structure.

The Company will now focus its activities on incorporating all the data it has gathered in its 2019 drilling campaign, and in particular the Heron-1 results, into a rapid reinterpretation of Block XX and will then engage with the Mongolian government to secure an Exploitation Licence in order to be able to put Heron-1 on to production in 2020, to pursue the development of the discovery and to investigate further the resource potential of the now proven continuation of the Tamsag Basin petroleum system into Block XX.

'The test results at Heron-1 are even better than we expected given that the well is deep in the basin centre. The data gathered will now be analysed and used to secure tenure of a development area in Block XX with a view to transitioning Petro Matad from explorer to producer with revenue generation.

I am delighted that the Petro Matad team has been able to achieve this result having put in so much effort. We look forward to progressing to the next phase of the Company's development.'

Coal power plants face $7.3 billion losses in Europe in 2019 www.mining.com

Coal power generators in Europe face 6.6 billion euros ($7.3 billion) of losses this year as plunging renewable energy costs and cheap natural gas cut use of the dirtiest plants to a record low.

Almost 80% of lignite and hard coal-fired generators will be unprofitable this year, a hit the industry is unlikely to survive without government help, according to a report from Carbon Tracker. The research group pushing for lower greenhouse gas emissions calls for a continent-wide phaseout of the most polluting fossil fuel by 2030.

Utilities in Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic are the most exposed to falling profits in a year where falling coal prices and rising carbon emission permits make it less attractive to burn the fuel for power. Coal’s days are already numbered in Germany, which plans to shut its plants by 2038, and Spain has set a 2030 deadline.

While European year-ahead coal prices have dropped to about $66 a ton from more than $100 a year ago, EU carbon permits have surged fivefold since 2017. That has driven up the cost of burning coal. At the same time, benchmark gas contracts in the Netherlands are trading 27% below their 10-year seasonal average, encouraging utilities to use that fuel instead.

The report by Carbon Tracker, an environmental group that advises institutional investors, points to how energy economics is prompting nations to wean themselves off coal to curb emissions and slow climate change. For most of this decade it was more profitable to burn coal in Germany, but that relationship was turned on its head this year because of a glut of gas.

“EU coal generators are hemorrhaging cash because they cannot compete with cheap renewables and gas and this will only get worse,” said Matt Gray, Carbon Tracker’s head of power and utilities. “Getting off coal is cheap and can be a win-win for consumers and shareholders, providing governments and investors work with local communities.”

RWE AG, which owns six coal plants in Germany, could incur losses of close to 1 billion euros in 2019, Carbon Tracker said. In countries such as Poland where wholesale prices are higher and government subsidies are generous, coal plants can remain profitable for the foreseeable future, the analysts said.

RWE rejected that analysis. “The figures stated and assumptions made do not stand up to a fact check,” an official at RWE said in an emailed statement. “They are false and cannot be used as a basis for any serious treatment of this topic.”

In the first six months of 2019 RWE reported earnings of 99 million euros for its European power generation — including hard coal, gas, biomass and hydropower — while for its lignite and nuclear sector it posted 172 million euros of earnings, the spokesman said. The utility doesn’t publish consolidated numbers for coal-fired generation.

Hard coal generation has collapsed by 39% in 2019 while lignite has seen a 20% decline year-on-year, according to Carbon Tracker which it calls “eye wateringly low” utilization rates.

Bloomberg Philanthropies, which along with Bloomberg LP is owned by Michael Bloomberg, helps fund Carbon Tracker.

(By Jeremy Hodges)

Stove that uses waste cooking oil for fuel introduced www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Flint bio stove that uses waste cooking oil as fuel was introduced yesterday on October 23. Used in developing countries in order to reduce air pollution and electricity costs, this type of stove is unique for not requiring coal or any other types of fuel. At the initiation of Chairman of the Citizens’ Representative Khural of Sukhbaatar district E.Ganbat, the ‘Flint bio stove’ project is jointly being implemented by KOICA, KTL and Flint LLC in the framework of the National Programme for Reduction of Air and Environmental Pollution. Used for cooking as well as heating, the stove was made specifically for the conditions of Mongolia.

Oyu Tolgoi announces Q3’19 Performance results www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. In the third quarter of 2019, Oyu Tolgoi achieved an All Injury Frequency Rate (AIFR) of 0.18 per 200,000 hours worked. Safety remains Oyu Tolgoi’s top priority for as we maintain strong safety performance and culture across our workforce. To reinforce our safety culture across our wider community we are campaigning for safer roads with our partner National Police Agency, committing over MNT 280 million for communication and provincial road monitoring system. Earlier this month, we co-hosted “Safety First - 2019” conference with the Mongolian Occupational Safety and Health Professionals’ Association.