Rio Tinto’s Turquoise Hill Resources subsidiary has reassured investors that it expects to finalise financing for the $6.8bn underground expansion of its massive Oyu Tolgoi copper, gold and silver mine in Mongolia by the end of the year.
Rio Tinto has pledged to invest at least $250m to $300m in the construction of the underground section of the mine which is expected to boost Mongolia’s economy by as much as one third when it reaches full capacity in 2021. The project was suspended in August 2013 over a tax dispute.
The Oyu Tolgoi mine is situated in the southern Gobi desert of Mongolia, approximately 80 kilometres north of the Mongolia-China border and 550 kilometres south of the capital, Ulaanbaatar. It is 34% owned by the Government of Mongolia and 66% by Turquoise Hill Resources, 51% of which is in turn owned Rio Tinto that has been project managing the mine since 2010.
One of the world’s largest copper-gold deposits, Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce an average of 430,000 tonnes of copper and 425,000 ounces of gold per year, as well as by-product silver and molybdenum, over its mine life. Ore from Oyu Tolgoi will be processed into concentrate on-site and, in its initial years, shipped by road to international markets.
Oyu Tolgoi copper mine expansion still on, Rio Tinto assures investors
Source: AKIpress