Mongolia Says Oyu Tolgoi Shareholders’ Meet Date Yet to Be Set

A shareholders’ meeting to resolve disputes that are holding up construction funding of Mongolia’s $6.6 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine is yet to be set, Mining Minister Davaajav Gankhuyag said today.

Mongolia’s state-owned news agency Montsame reported on March 14 that a meeting will take place on March 20, citing Minister of Economic Development Nyamjav Batbayar.

The mine is currently operating on a month-to-month budget with funds from Rio Tinto Group (RIO), which owns 66 percent of the project through its Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. unit. Mongolia owns the rest.

Tax dues and cost overruns are among issues that remain in dispute, Gankhuyag said at a press conference in Ulan Bator.

The government alleges that the project has gone 40 percent over budget, while Rio Tinto says the figure is closer to 18 percent. Mongolia says it will only approve the 2013 budget when it sees a complete feasibility study for phase two of the project.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Kohn in Ulan Bator at mkohn5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jason Rogers at jrogers73@bloomberg.net

Comments

Popular posts from this blog