Turquoise Hill Resources today announced 2019 financial guidance and provided an update on underground development.
The Company previously announced 2019 operational guidance.
Operating cash costs for 2019 are expected to be $800 million to $850 million.
C1 cash costs are expected to be $1.75 to $1.95 per pound of copper produced. Unit cost guidance assumes the midpoint of expected 2019 copper and gold production ranges and a gold price of $1,281 per ounce.
Capital expenditures for 2019 on a cash-basis are expected to be $150 million to $180 million for open-pit operations and $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion for underground development. Open-pit capital is mainly comprised of deferred stripping, equipment purchases, maintenance componentization and tailings storage facility construction. Underground development capital includes both expansion capital and VAT.
As previously announced, Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce 125,000 to 155,000 tonnes of copper and 180,000 to 220,000 ounces of gold in concentrates for 2019. Open-pit operations are expected to mine ore primarily from Phase 4 throughout the year, with contributions from Phase 6. Mill throughput for 2019 is expected to be approximately 40 million tonnes and includes the processing of some material from mine stockpiles.
Underground lateral development is expected to advance 15 to 16 kilometres during 2019.
Underground development update 
Independent review
Significant progress on the Oyu Tolgoi underground project continued through 2018, with the construction of critical above and below ground infrastructure. Shaft 2-connected underground infrastructure progressed well during Q4’18 with the completion of the lining installation and handover of Ore Bin 11 as well as advancement of the new 6,000-tonne-per-day jaw crusher under construction.
During the last quarter of 2018, Turquoise Hill carried out its own review of the previously announced Rio Tinto schedule and cost re-forecast for the project (2018 Rio Tinto Review) that had concluded a delay to sustainable first production was expected from Q1’21 to the end of Q3’21. The Company’s review, with the assistance of the Company’s independent Qualified Person (QP) and mining consultants OreWin Pty Ltd (OreWin), found that project cost was expected to remain within the $5.3 billion budget but that there was an increasingly likely risk of a further delay to sustainable first production beyond Q3’21.
This assessment is the result of, but not limited to, certain delays to the completion of Shaft 2, which continued to
experience challenges during Q4’18 with structural, mechanical, piping and electrical installation productivity below expectations. Current expectations are that the completion of this technically complex installation and commissioning work will now take longer than previously anticipated. In addition to the Shaft 2 challenges, it was found that increased ground support was required in some key areas resulting in delays to mass excavations such as Ore Bin 11 and Primary Chamber 1 (PC1) and some areas on the footprint. While total lateral development or equivalent development metres have remained
on budget, these challenging ground conditions have had a direct impact on the project’s critical path.
Latest project update
Since the completion of the Company’s independent review, Turquoise Hill has become aware that Rio Tinto, as project manager, has advised that as the lateral development continues, there is more detailed geotechnical data than what was previously available and, as a consequence, the understanding of the rock mass around and under the ore body has improved. This data reveals there are areas of the mine footprint where the strength of the rock mass is more variable than
anticipated. This will require some potentially significant changes to the design of some future elements of the
development, and the development schedule. This, combined with the delay to Shaft 2, is ultimately expected to result in an overall schedule delay to sustainable first production beyond the end of Q3’21.
Rio Tinto has advised that detailed schedule and design work has begun and is currently underway, as is the work
necessary to estimate the impact on cost and development schedule resulting from this anticipated delay, and any impacts from the re-optimized aspects of the development. As a consequence, the completion of the 2019 definitive estimate review
has been delayed due to this expected expanded scope.
The Company is working with Rio Tinto to understand the issues and in parallel with the definitive estimate review,
Turquoise Hill will assess the impact of any further delay to sustainable first production beyond the end of Q3’21 on the Company’s cash flows, liquidity and funding requirements, as well as investigate potential mitigation options.

Published Date:2019-02-28