Mining deal signals Mongolia’s return to the stage

Mongolia on the brink
August 2009
Government disputes with foreign companies stymie exploitation of rich natural resources.

Nine years after it first began exploring the Oyu Tolgoi gold and copper deposits in Mongolia, Canadian firm Ivanhoe and its larger partner Rio Tinto have secured the mining rights deal that could transform the country’s economic prospects. The long-awaited deal, signed on October 6 – the most auspicious day of the year according to the Mongolian-Tibetan Buddhist calendar – allows Ivanhoe and Rio Tinto to mine the site’s deposits after completing investments projected to total $4 billion.