Gold reaffirmed as solution to economic challenges www.zgm.mn
Bloomberg TV Mongolia, in cooperation with the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) and Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry, held the Gold Forum yesterday to address the current situation of gold sector and facing challenges of gold producers. Sectoral experts expressed that support on gold industry will help stabilize the weakening MNT rate and economy. Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry Sumiyabazar Dolgorsuren announced that the ministry has an objective to increase the annual revenue of gold sector to USD 1 billion. Within the frame, the ministry will implement a policy to shift from placer mining to lode deposits in the next five years as placer deposits are close to exhaustion. The minister also expressed his position to maintain the gold sector revenue during the shift period. According to the BoM, Mongolia generated over USD 730 million from gold purchases to foreign exchange reserves in 2017. The bank aims to grow gold purchase to 22 tons this year.
The Gold-2 national program has set a goal to increase gold production by 2-3 tons per year and 25 tons by 2020. Bayartsaikhan Nadmid, the Governor of the BoM, informed, “The rising external uncertainty is posing a risk for Mongolia as the country is heavily dependent on global market. We need to strengthen our immunity. It is important to constantly grow foreign exchange reserves in doing so. FX reserve can help protect us from debt repayments, reduce its impact and maintain the national currency rate. It is also important for financial independence. For instance, countries with high reserves of foreign exchange suffered less during the global crisis in 2008-2009.” After highlighting the sluggish explorations, depleting placer deposits and illegal artisanal miners as pressing issues in gold industry, the Mining Minister announced to commence exploration for major deposits soon. He then pointed out that there was a policy error in the rehabilitation of placer gold deposits and announced to take immediate actions. Minister of Environment and Tourism Tserenbat Namsrai remarked, “We demanded mining companies to fulfill their duties obliged by the law before the beginning of this year’s business cycle. We have drafted the bill on mining rehabilitation and its concepts, as well as the Rules of Procedure.”
Published Date:2018-10-04