Railway construction begins to Mongolia’s first oil refinery www.news.mn

Construction of railway to Mongolia’s first oil refinery began earlier today (5 December). The 1.5 km long first phrase of the railway is being implemented by Ulaanbaatar Railway JSC.

Mongolia has potential to export far more mutton www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The country has fulfilled over 86 percent of its objectives set in the Action Program of the Government for 2016-2020 to export 50 thousand tons of meat and meat products, highlighted during the discussion themed ‘Opportunities to increase benefits and export of mutton’ took place on December 4 in the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry.

Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou arrested in Canada www.bbc.com

The daughter of the founder of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has been arrested in Canada and faces extradition to the United States.

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and deputy chair, was arrested in Vancouver on 1 December.

Details of the arrest have not been released but the US has been investigating Huawei over possible violation of sanctions against Iran.

China's embassy in Canada protested at the arrest and demanded her release.

Huawei said it had little information about the charges and was "not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng".

The arrest comes at a sensitive time for US-China relations. The nations are engaged in a trade war that has seen both impose duties of billions of dollars on one another's goods.

The arrest will not help the 90-day tariff truce the nations agreed after President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met at the G20.

What has Canada said about the arrest?
Canada's ministry of justice confirmed the date and place of Ms Meng's arrest and added: "She is sought for extradition by the United States, and a bail hearing has been set for Friday."

It said it could not say more as Ms Meng had sought a ban on the publication of details and this had been ordered by the courts.

A spokesman for the US justice department in the Eastern District of New York - which Huawei said had brought the charges - declined to comment.

What could be behind it?
US media have reported that Huawei is under investigation for potential violations of US sanctions against Iran.

One report in the New York Times said the US commerce and treasury departments had subpoenaed the firm over suspected violation of sanctions against both Iran and North Korea.

US lawmakers have repeatedly accused the company of being a threat to US national security, arguing that its technology could be used for spying by the Chinese government.

Reacting to the arrest, US Senator Ben Sasse told Associated Press that China was aggressively engaged in undermining US national security interests, often "using private sector entities".

"Americans are grateful that our Canadian partners have arrested the chief financial officer," he added.

How have China and Huawei responded?
Huawei said Ms Meng, the daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, was detained while transferring between flights.

In a statement, it said it had complied with "all applicable laws and regulations where it operates, including applicable export control and sanction laws and regulations of the UN, US and EU.

"The company believes the Canadian and US legal systems will ultimately reach a just conclusion."

A statement from the Chinese embassy in Canada was far angrier.

It said that Canada, at the request of the US, had arrested a Chinese citizen "not violating any American or Canadian law".

"The Chinese side has lodged stern representations with the US and Canadian side, and urged them to immediately correct the wrongdoing and restore the personal freedom of Ms Meng Wanzhou."

Why is Huawei a concern to the West?
The company is one of the largest telecommunications equipment and services providers in the world, recently passing Apple to become the second-biggest smartphone maker after Samsung.

Some Western governments fear Beijing will gain access to fifth-generation (5G) mobile and other communications networks through Huawei and expand its spying ability, although the firm insists there is no government control.

Security concerns recently led BT to bar Huawei equipment from the heart of the 5G network it is rolling out in the UK.

New Zealand has blocked Huawei equipment over national security concerns, after Australia imposed a similar ban on both Huawei and fellow communications firm ZTE.

The US has brought a number of legal cases against Chinese technology firms, with accusations such as cyber-security theft and violations of Iran sanctions.

Earlier this year, it barred US companies from exporting to ZTE, effectively shutting down the firm. The US later replaced the ban with a fine and governance changes.

The US has also restricted US firms from selling parts to Chinese chipmaker Fujian Jinhua.

What are the Iran sanctions?
Donald Trump last month reinstated all the US sanctions on Iran that had been removed under a 2015 nuclear deal.

Mr Trump had been fiercely opposed to the deal, which saw Iran limit its controversial nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

The re-imposed sanctions hit oil exports, shipping and banks - indeed all core parts of Iran's economy.

Although there are some waivers, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said the US will "aggressively" target any firm or organisation "evading our sanctions".

Khanbogd school and kindergarten complex ready to receive 840 children www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Oyu Tolgoi backed Gobi Oyu Development Support Fund has commissioned and completed the Khanbogd secondary school No.2 with capacity to educate 640- school students and 200- kindergarten children.

MBD (B2B) Business offers # 18 www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com

www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com is the number 1 ranking B2B portal site on Google's "Mongolia business or/and Business Mongolia" search according to the business visitors access from appx 90 countries as of today (Google analytics report).

Students from Mongolia will be able to learn Russian quicker www.urfu.ru

Since December 2018, the Ural Federal University has opened a new opportunity for pupils and students of Mongolia to study the Russian language remotely. This was announced today during a video conference between UrFU and the representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo in Ulaanbaatar. To get full information on the educational program, students from several Mongolian universities participated in the video conference.

According to Olga Mikhailova, the Department of the Russian Language for Foreign Students Assistant, the Russian language courses at Ural Federal University include 144 hours of free online lessons, tutoring and ongoing information support. Every week, course participants will receive useful information in order to improve their Russian skills.

‘There will be online classes for which students only need a computer with access to the Internet,’ Olga Mikhailova says. ‘After each lecture, students will perform a written task for teacher assessment. Besides that, after each webinar, they will perform an oral task and then check it in a group. It is expected that there will be two classes a week in total: a lecture for 24-25 people and a webinar for 12-13 people’.

As a result, students and schoolchildren will be able to improve their Russian language skills in a few months, prepare for the exam and eventually become an UrFU student. At the beginning and at the end of the course, the organizers will conduct a test, which will show their language level. Classes will begin as early as December 2018, and will end at the end of April 2019.

In order to participate in the course you need to apply for a test and then undergo an interview in Russian and do a written task in Russian.

Mind you, the development and launch of this educational program in Ural Federal University became possible thanks to the support of the Presidential Grants Foundation, which provided a special grant to the Sverdlovsk Regional Fund for the Support of Youth Initiatives. The project also involves the Russian language festival “Cyrillic Fest” in Ulaanbaatar in the summer of 2019. The course participants will be able to continue learning Russian with UrFU teachers in full-time format at the festival. Immersion in the Russian language will also take place through songs, dances, contests, master classes, theater, cinema, video blogging, sports and much more.

The project was supported by well-known university graduates who now live and work in Mongolia, including Zandaakhüügiin Enkhbold, the head of the Mongolia Presidential Administration.

The First Vice-Rector of UrFU Sergey Kortov, Senior Researcher at the Academic and Research Laboratory of Archeographic Studies Alexander Palkin and the Association of UrFU Alumni Executive Director Alexander Ponomarev, who are now in Ulaanbaatar, also took part in the video conference between UrFU and Rossotrudnichestvo. Elvira Symaniuk, UrFU Ural Institute of Humanities Director, Valerii Gudov, the Department of Russian and Foreign Literature Assistant Professor and Mongolian students who are currently studying at UrFU, greeted the schoolchildren and students from Mongolia.

In you have any questions, please address them to Olga Mikhailova at krolishna@gmail.com.

Deep water contamination found 47m underneath surface www.zgm.mn

Ulaanbaatar Environmental Department (UED), under the support from United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), organized Ulaanbaatar City Soil Pollution and Health discussion to present the results of a study on soil, which addresses critical level of pollution.

Teck chooses Sumitomo to develop Chilean copper project in $1.2B deal www.mining.com

Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.A | TECK.B)(NYSE:TCK), Canada’s largest diversified miner, has chosen Japan’s Sumitomo as partner to go ahead with a planned $4.8 billion expansion of the Quebrada Blanca copper mine in northern Chile.

Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corporation will pay $1.2 billion to Teck for a 30% stake in the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 project — $800 million earn-in contribution and $400 million matching contribution.

The sum will help the Vancouver-based company go ahead with the expansion of the mine, now approved by the board, with construction to start as soon as the deal is closed and production expected to begin in the second half of 2021.

A potential third expansion will make the Quebrada Blanca mine Chile’s second largest copper operation, after Escondida, and one of the world’s top five copper mines.
“This partnership significantly de-risks Teck’s investment in the project, enhances our project economics and preserves our ability to continue to return capital to shareholders and reduce bonds currently outstanding,” Teck’s Chief Executive Don Lindsay said in the statement.

In August, the miner received regulatory approval for the mine extension, but the board didn’t ok the project until today.

Sumitomo reportedly had competed with Mitsubishi, Freeport-McMoRan, Lundin Mining, Rio Tinto and others looking to boost their copper assets.

Teck sees the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 as its most significant growth opportunity, with the potential to double its copper business. It is expected to extend the ageing deposit’s life by 28 years and substantially boost production to 300,000 tonnes of copper a year from 23,400 tonnes in 2017.

The Canadian mining giant is already studying a Phase 3 for the mine, which will double its capacity to 600,000 tonnes of copper a year. The potential extension will make the mine Chile’s second largest copper operation, after Escondida, and situate it among the world’s top five copper mines.

In terms of costs, Phase 3 would need a $5 billion-investment, as it would have to include the installation of a new concentrator.

Copper rush
Copper, one of four business units at Teck besides steelmaking, coal, oil and zinc, is considered a company priority.

The Canadian miner is not alone on the quest for copper assets, a metal the industry sees as having one of the strongest outlooks. There are expectations that the electric-vehicle boom and demand for renewable energy will increase need for the metal.

The expected deficit will partly be a consequence of increasing demand for power generation and electric vehicles (there’s 300kg of copper in an electric bus and nine tonnes per windfarm megawatt).

But it’s also related to the fact that the current copper pipeline is at the lowest this century, both in terms of number and capacity.

“After delivery of Cobre Panama (with the main ramp early next year) we are left with a gap until we see the next batch of 200ktpa-plus projects in 2022-23,” Colin Hamilton, director of commodities research at BMO Capital Markets, said in April. “This is when the likes of Kamoa, Oyu Tolgoi Phase 2, and QB2 are likely to offer meaningful supply growth.”

Once the deal with Sumitomo is completed, Teck will own 60% of the Quebrada Blanca project and Chile’s national mining company ENAMI will hold the remaining 10%.

Mongolia introduces community-based sustainable tourism www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Ministry of Environment and Tourism, ‘Airbnb’ and ‘what3words’ announced launching of a joint project to create a favorable condition for tourism in Mongolia. A memorandum of cooperation between the parties was signed in May, 2018.

No nukes here! Mongolia stands up for world peace and sanity www.news.mn

In the world today, Mongolia is the only country with internationally recognised nuclear-weapon-free status.