Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Oyu Tolgoi released the latest edition of its scorecard updating its performance for the second quarter of 2017 on July 28. Oyu Tolgoi continues to work with safety as its core priority. The All Injury Frequency Rate stood at 0.27 per 200,000 hours worked in the second quarter, as the operations and underground teams maintain significant focus in building a strong safety culture across the business. In Q2’17, 141,800 hours of safety training was delivered to over 11,000 employees and contractors, reports ot.mn.

Armando Torres, CEO of Oyu Tolgoi, said, “The second quarter marked an important milestone for the business the three millionth tonne of concentrate shipped, less than four years after the first shipment was delivered to our customers. This achievement is built on the exemplary efforts and support of our workforce, partners, and shareholders. As we look to the second half of the year, we remain focused on delivering on our business targets for 2017 and maintaining the momentum of the underground project.
“Safety remains our first and foremost priority on this journey – and we continue to work hard to build a lasting safety culture within our business, and beyond.”
Oyu Tolgoi continued to deliver on its commitment to environmental protection and stewardship, particularly in the area of water use with 0.373 cubic metres of water per tonne of ore processed during the reporting quarter, significantly better than the global average of 1.2 cubic metres of water per tonne, and achieved a recycling rate of 88.7 per cent.
Oyu Tolgoi also continued to support sustainable development programmes in Umnugobi with an investment of US$3.1mn over the quarter. The Oyu Tolgoi-funded Bulk Water treatment plant in Khanbogd started operations, and new programmes aimed at improving pasture management and women employment were started in the quarter.
In terms of production, material mined increased 3.5 per cent in Q2’17 vs Q1’17, while grades for the quarter were flat compared to Q1’17. Copper and gold production for Q2’17 was essentially in-line with Q1’17 production despite the planned maintenance shutdown. Sales of copper in Q2’17 decreased 5.6 per cent over Q1’17 due to lower concentrate volumes during the quarter. Gold sales in Q2’17 decreased 28.1 per cent over Q1’17 due to sales in Q1’17 including some higher-grade concentrate from Q4’16.
Turquoise Hill expects Oyu Tolgoi to produce 130,000 to 160,000 tonnes of copper and 100,000 to 140,000 ounces of gold in concentrates for 2017.

Published Date:2017-08-01