Mongolia to establish institute for Genghis Khan research www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The government of Mongolia has decided to establish an independent institute for Genghis Khan research, local media reported Thursday, citing the government's press office.

Mongolia Mining 2019 features traditional mining www.zgm.mn

Mongolia Mining 2019 International Mining & Oil Expo opens for the 9th consecutive year under the theme Responsible Mining-Sustainable Development at the Buyant Ukhaa Sports Palace. The expo will continue until April 12, 2019. The expo aims at featuring traditional mining and emerging oil industries of Mongolia with exhibitors and visitors representing the industry's major companies and the largest number of professionals.

Xanadu Mines scoping study confirms potential of Kharmagtai Copper-Gold Project in Mongolia www.miningcapital.com

Xanadu Mines Ltd (ASX:XAM) has completed an open pit scoping study at the Kharmagtai Copper-Gold Project in Mongolia, which confirmed the viability of near-surface copper and gold mineralisation.

The study confirms the company’s strategy to explore for high-value large copper porphyry systems in the area.

It has identified opportunities for further upside from extending the life of the planned open pit mine, assessing higher-grade underground options and evaluating oxide gold potential near-surface at several locations.

Xanadu's managing director and CEO Andrew Stewart said the open pit study clearly demonstrated that the Kharmagtai Copper-Gold Project was one of the leading development assets globally today.

He said: “The scoping study indicates the potential to develop a low strip ratio open pit mining operation in an accelerated time frame, with rapid payback of the life-of-mine infrastructure for future open pit and underground mining operations.

“Whatever lens you look through, whether it is value, strip ratio, cost, mine life, production profile or scalability we believe Kharmagtai has the potential to be an outstanding project.

“The study identifies many opportunities for further upside that will improve project economics both from extending the life of the open pit mine and targeting the high-grade Stockwork Hill and Copper Hill underground resources which represent a clear and compelling path to value creation and the ability to expand into a larger resource.”

The scoping study focuses on three zones of mineralisation – the Stockwork Hill, White Hill and Copper Hill deposits on which the upgraded resource estimate for Kharmagtai was based.

The mineral resource is unchanged from October 31, 2018, and demonstrates the mineralisation is robust and continuous with over 22% of the resource classified in the indicated category.

Optimisation of the mineral resource block model was completed using the Lerch-Grossman algorithm within Midnight Software – the optimised pits were then scheduled and pit designs were applied resulting in four phases of mining at While Hill, two phases at Stockwork Hill and a single phase at Copper Hill.

The study recommends that mining begins at Copper Hill targeting high-grade material, while the pre-strip is initiated for the White Hill and Stock Work Hill areas.

When the pre-strip is complete mining will proceed in phases assessing mineralisation from all three deposits.

Additional drilling planned
Based on the results, the company will progress additional drilling at the project and proceed with more advanced mining studies.

Underground mining targeting the high-grade Stockwork Hill and Copper Hill deposits has not been considered in this study but represents a compelling path to further value creation and the ability to expand into a larger project within the current and any future mineral resource upgrade.

Stewart said: "Excellent oxide gold recoveries at Golden Eagle complement the existing copper-gold resources and represent the opportunity for a low cost, high-value gold leach operation which could be run early in the development life of Kharmagtai, injecting significant cash into the project to offset the cost of developing a large-scale copper-gold deposit.

"Whilst the current resource provides an excellent platform for the company to join the ranks of copper producers in the coming years, we believe that the exploration potential holds significant value for shareholders.

"We are excited with recent drilling below the Stockwork Hill deposit which has demonstrated the existence of a significant new zone of bornite gold-rich porphyry mineralisation along strike and at depth of the current open pit resource.

"In addition, we are having success with our mineral resource evaluation drilling at the new Zaara discovery and Golden Eagle oxide gold prospect.

"We are very confident that these results will provide the basis for a significant increase in the size and grade of the overall Kharmagtai deposit and have a positive impact on ongoing economic studies.”

Soldiers to contribute to Tavan Tolgoi railway construction www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. At its regular meeting today, the Cabinet discussed a State Policy on railway and issued a resolution. The resolution states that constructions of a 414 km Tavantolgoi – Zuunbayan railroad and a 267km Tavantolgoi – Gashuunsukhait railroad will be funded with internal source.

Rental flats to be available for ownership www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. Today’s Cabinet meeting approved a regulation on ownership of rental flats.

Mongolian ‘Deel’ export Deal www.news.mn

The Mongolian deel (pronounced “dale”) is a long tunic made from thick cotton material with narrow sleeves, a wide belt and a high stiff collar and has remain unchanged since the days of Chinngis Khan.

In the footsteps of Roy Chapman Andrews – with NASA technology www.news.mn

Across the stark steppes of the Gobi Desert, the largest desert in Asia, accounting for roughly 30% of Mongolia, almost a hundred years ago, a unique cavalcade of old motor vehicles made its way northwest from Peking. The cars and their passengers, which must have left the Gobi’s nomadic herders gawking in amazement on those days in 1920, was an expedition in search of the remains of early man and was led by a prototype of Indiana Jones – the US naturalist Roy Chapman Andrews. What they came across, however, was far older than ancient human remains – a nest of dinosaur eggs! This discovery – the first of its kind – was to lead to a host of fossil excavations putting Mongolia on the map as a veritable treasure trove for palaeontologists.

General Financing Agreement signed with EBRD www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ General Financing Agreement between the Government of Mongolia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was signed by Minister of Finance Ch.Khurelbaatar and Head of Mongolia Unit at the EBRD Irina Kravchenko on April 9.

Promoting eco-friendly tourism in Mongolia www.egis-group.com

Between 2017 and 2018, Egis was involved in supporting the design of a project to assist the Mongolian government in developing eco-friendly tourism in the country’s protected natural reserves, which will account for 30% of the Mongolian territory by 2030. The aim is to preserve natural spaces, to promote local culture and to support a fair and equitable economy.

In partnership with Horwath HTL, Egis was appointed to help design a proposed project to both protect and develop two national parks in Mongolia: Khuvsgul Lake National Park (KLNP) and Onon-Balj National Park (OBNP).

The project was designed to be compliant with the principles of sustainable tourism defined by United Nations world tourism organisation; aims to preserve biodiversity; and introduce the first eco-certification program in the country. It is hoped that the designs will be used to help promote and develop green tourism in other national parks in Mongolia.

Projects that preserve nature and make it accessible
Lake Khuvsgul is the largest freshwater lake in the country (70% of Mongolia’s freshwater reserves, measuring 130 km in length and 36 km in width). Lake’s pollution caused by dust and waste (being solid or liquid) would be reduced by surfacing roads, by protecting the lake’s banks through better management of traffic along the 40 km of its most visited shores, by creating landfills and by building wastewater treatment plants and eco-toilets. As an example, on the two parcs, three new landfills are proposed to be created to deal with the waste of 15,000 residents and 100,000 tourists. They would be the first rural landfills in the country compliant with international standards. As such, the project would help to reduce public health risks, for both the local communities and visitors.

Biodiversity is proposed to be preserved by the revision of existing parks management plans, by public awareness and by capacity building actions.

To minimize the impact on existing power demand in KLNP park, the new building for staff and visitor centre is designed to be energy self-sufficient thanks to rooftop solar panels and energy savings through an efficient layout allowing to heat only the offices in winter.

Modelling the impact of climate change
Egis conducted an analysis of the potential impact of climate change on the bioclimatic conditions and the ecosystems on KLNP project.

For example, Egis prepared plant cover and habitat maps for the national park, determined the impact of climate change on the park and established various climate change scenarios.

To do this, Egis made substantial use of geospatial modelling, not only to quantify and map the impact on the different types of vegetation, but also to identify the new zones towards which certain ecosystems might migrate following climate change.

Preserving permafrost and fighting global warming
Permafrost is a geological term which describes ground which temperature remains below 0°C for more than two years in a row. Lake Khuvsgul is the only lake in the world that is entirely surrounded by permafrost. This frozen layer plays an important ecological role in regulating ground temperature, germination and resistance to drought and fire. Because of global warming, the permafrost is starting to melt, threatening to release large quantities of greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide, methane) into the atmosphere, which themselves cause temperatures increase. In short, a vicious circle.

To fight this phenomenon, Egis proposed several solutions including elevating structures, deploying insulating materials, and laying innovative road surface structures based on geocells compatible with low traffic density roads. Geocells are geotextiles with alveolar structures (75 to 200 mm high) used as a soil reinforcement product. This solution, which is a first of a kind in Mongolia, reduces the environmental impact of the project by confining and reusing the materials of the site. This structure has the advantage of withstanding the extreme climatic conditions prevalent in Mongolia (temperatures which can vary between -50°C and +50°C).

Highlighting local culture and creating jobs
The Mongolian tourist sector currently suffers from low service standards, lack of infrastructure and a very short tourist season due to long and harsh winters. Developing tourism is however one of the Mongolian government’s strategic priorities to diversify its economy and create jobs. These eco-tourism projects would stimulate the commercial activities of local producers and service providers and contribute to reduce the level of poverty of these regions which is currently particularly high.

Onon Balj is considered to be the birthplace of Genghis Khaan, the founder of the Mongol Empire. A brand-new architectural and tourist complex is planned to be built in his memory. Taking the form of a huge bust emerging from the ground (35 m high), the future 4000 m² building is proposed to house a unique visitor trail, punctuated with gers (traditional Mongolian yurts) recounting the life of the famous Emperor and describing the way the Mongolian people used to live in the 12th century.

With the construction of this iconic building, the forecast number of visitors in OBNP is planned to be multiplied by 20 in 10 years (rising from 27,000 visitors in 2018 to 440,000 in 2029). As a result, the number of residents of these parks making their living from tourism would triple, and 8,200 residents would receive training. This would thus help to contribute to the diversification of revenue streams, reduce unemployment and dependence on social aid, and include in this approach the vulnerable members of the local community. The various measures implemented would also help to prolong the tourist season, which currently only lasts three months.

High coal price to provide favorable conditions for ETT investors www.zgm.mn

Coal firms are still in demand. The performance of the new Mongolian Mining Corporation (MMC)’s USD 440 million bond shows it. The bond has a 9.25 percent interest rate and received a total of USD 740 million bids for subscriptions. From the same example and with the current high price of coal, investors are showing interest in purchasing Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (ETT)'s shares.