Mongolian Economy and Finance

It was reported on December 10, 2010, that Mongolia’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy has been instructed to implement the government’s order to regulate artisanal or “ninja” mining.

Derry Matthews-Choi Tseveenpurev II (second): Sky Sports in England televises a regular series called "Prizefighter," in which eight boxers in the same division compete in a one-night tournament with each bout scheduled for three rounds.

Two luxury cabins modeled after Mongolian yurts are near completion at Madison County’s Rose River Farm off Old Blue Ridge Turnpike (Route 670) just east of Bohannon Road (Route 600) in the Syria community.

Sternberg Museum visitors expect to see dinosaurs.

Nobuyuki Nozawa has been fascinated by Mongolia since he was a child--particularly its people's nomadic lifestyles--but not even he could have foreseen he would end up helping combat viral hepatitis in Ulan Bator.

The Australian dollar was the world's best performing currency in 2010 - after Mongolia's.

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (USA) (NYSE:IVN) witnessed the correction of 4.08% to close at $23.75 with overall traded volume of 2.68 million shares in the last trading day.

Mongolia, the birthplace of Genghis Khan, has abundant mineral resources in its vast grasslands and deserts.

People planning a gap year in China could opt to add a memorable occasion to their itinerary in the form of a visit to Mongolia.

Mongolia – This wide-open country north of China is known for its nomads and endless steppes; Mongolia is the second largest landlocked country in the world.

DP decided to appoint its heads of the standing committees at the beginning of January.

Hong Kong attracted its first Mongolian stock listing in 2010. Could a bigger, state-backed company be coming in the new year?

Maplewood, MO (KSDK) -- A Maplewood man has been missing for nearly a week and now police are asking for help to locate him.

The Chief of the Welfare Department of the Labor and Welfare Service Board, D.Choijilsuren, has said the Human Development Fund has earmarked MNT82.5 billion for payment of students’ fees in 2011.

Public transportation costs in Ulaanbaatar will go up from January 1, 2011 but users will not have to pay more as the 26 bus companies will continue to receive subsidies.

Noted athlete B.Ser-Od has ended 2010 with winning the Hoju Yomiuri marathon in Japan, finishing first in a field of 1,800 competitors from all over Asia and Africa. He earlier won the Brighton marathon in England.

The U.S. Embassy in Mongolia recently supported a group of 10 activists – seven of them physically disabled – belonging to the NGO Wind Bird - to make an intense two-week visit to the USA to:

China controlling nearly 95% of rare earth minerals production globally and the possibility of demand exceeding supply in the short to medium term provides a strong incentive for Japanese, U.S. and European investment in Mongolian rare earth mining and the associated export infrastructure links, says a research note prepared by Eurasia Capital.

Ch. Khashchuluun, Chairman of the National Development and Innovation Committee, has said the emphasis in their work plan for economic development in 2011 is on optimal use of financial resources by using local indices, the first time this will be done.

The annual Innovation 2010 exhibition opened at the hall of the Union of Mongolian Artists (UMA) on December 29 with 160 new paintings, sculptures, and installations on show until January 7.

The Standing Committee on Security and Foreign Policy approved on December 28 the terms of Mongolia borrowing USD12 million from the International Development Association (IDA) for the program “Development Policy Financing-2”. However, the members instructed the Government to spend less on trainings and seminars.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ In accordance with a decree of the Mongolia's President Ts.Elbegdorj, some foremost media workers were awarded Wednesday with state prizes for their significant contributions to strengthening valuables of democratic society and developing free journalism.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The prize named after the President of Mongolia for young scholars was awarded Wednesday. The State Head has granted the prizes to three scholars from the Academy of Sciences of Mongolia (ASM).

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ A ceremony took place Wednesday in the Government House to grant the prize named after the Prime Minister to the best children of the year 2010. These children have shown brilliant successes in arts, sports and in studying.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USA to Mongolia Mr. Jonathan Addleton has greeted the Mongolians on the New Year.

The toughness of the Mongol warrior often determined the outcome of a battle. In 1221, at the Battle of Indus, the Turkish Army of Jellalud-din took up an excellent defensive position beside the Indus, its flanks protected by the mountains and a bend in the river.

The commodities rally going into the New Year showed no signs of slowing on Tuesday, with copper hitting its second record high in as many days and most markets rising in thin trading amid seasonal holidays.

Mongolia has shifted its approach to developing a massive untapped coal deposit, offering foreign companies a greater chance to invest in the site after all but shutting them out.

FORT COLLINS - A team of researchers from Colorado State University's Warner College of Natural Resources has been awarded a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant to study the impact of climate change on rangeland-based ecosystems and livelihoods of pastoralists in Mongolia.

Manas Petroleum Corp., a Switzerland-based oil exploration company, has raised $1.12 million in a private offering of equity. Deal Value (US$ Million) 1.12

The MPP group in Parliament discussed on December 27 the law draft on pasture land submitted by some MPs and decided there was need for more discussion.

Members of the MPP group in Parliament have approved the nomination of M.Altankuyag, a former Chairman of the State Prosecutor General’s Office, as the next Chief of the Constitutional Court.

MPs Ts.Batbayar, S.Erdene and Ts.Sedvanchig have called upon Speaker D.Demberel to dismiss Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy D.Zorigt without delay.

Coal sector representatives from Mongolia will join a consultative meeting in Tianjin in China on January 6, organized by the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, the Mineral Resources Authority and the Mongol Coal Association.

The Ulaanbaatar Civil Representatives’ Assembly reviewed on December 25 the capital city budget for 2011as passed by Parliament.

The Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU), NSB television and the Mongolian Employers’ Federation issued a joint appeal on December 27 asking citizens to buy more domestically produced goods and food items.

Kharumafuji or D.Byambadorj, who holds the ozeki rank in sumo wrestling, is in Mongolia.

The Mongolian National Mining Association and Energy Resources LLC recently decided after a meeting that the present manpower situation in the country called for a review of a 1999 decree that bars women from operating heavy machinery.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The Prime Minister S.Batbold has greeted in behalf of the Government all the Mongolians who are living, working or studying abroad on occasion of the New year.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The national MONTSAME news agency is naming the events to be written in its history:

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The Prime Minister S.Batbold received Tuesday a delegation led by D.Sumyabazar and Ya.Sodbaatar, first vice-presidents of the Mongolia's Free-Style Wrestling Federation (MFSWF).

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The meeting of the parliamentary Standing committee on security and foreign policy discussed Tuesday a financial agreement on finance and payment for developmental policy, established between the government of Mongolia and the International Development Association (IDA).

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ Ceremony took place December 23, 2010 in Bangkok city, Thailand to join Mongolia to an agreement on cooperation with the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES).

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ As of today, Mongolia is being ranked in first ten in the world by reserve of coal.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The World Masters competitions for the best 16 judoists ranked by the International Judo Federation (IJF) will take place January 15-16, 2011 in Baku city, Azerbaijan.

S.Batbold, Prime Minister and head of the national council for the ‘Third Campaign for Reclaiming Virgin Lands’ agrarian development program, gave a speech at the national council’s meeting at the State House.

Pyongyang, December 26 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il's work "Abuses of Socialism Are Intolerable" was brought out in pamphlet by the Mongolian Centre for the Study of Juche on Dec. 18.

Mongolia is a land locked country with long and freezing winters and hot and drought prone summers.

1. Big Construction Works Launched

In 1921, Mongolia, with support of Soviet Russia, started to become a modern country. Since that time, Mongolia started to adopt some current holiday practices, such as New Years, International Women’s Day and Mongolian Army Day (Men’s Day).

The Canadian group Fraser Institute recently dubbed Mongolia the second-worst destination for mining companies, but, nestled deep between Russia and China, this once-overlooked country plays host to potentially some of the world"s largest mineral deposits - a fact that cannot be ignored by the global mining industry, says a report in Interactive Investor .

Mongolia has passed an important milestone underpinning the core of its growth for much of the next century, according to a note by ResCap.

Just having a source of income is not enough, as many people in the country are realizing.

The Central Bank said on December 25 that there would be no change in the monetary policy as its priority was to keep inflation in a single digit.

Not all economic analysts are agreed that the 11% policy rate the Mongol Bank has left unchanged since last year will help control inflation, but the Bank has said it will retain the rate in 2011.

Most of the 1,000 domestic economic entities that contribute to the budget are small and medium enterprises while a few are large companies.

The Alliance of the Civil Movements for Environmental Protection, which includes 11 organizations from 10 aimags, has urged mining companies to reveal details of their water consumption.

The choice of organization to run the Development Bank will be revealed this week and two groups from South Korea and Japan are favorites for the selection.

The newly opened Sain Us airport in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, 27 km from Ereen city and 32 km from the border with Mongolia, is likely to serve flights to Ulaanbaatar and to the Far Eastern areas of the Russian Federation in the near future.

Residents in five aimags including Uvs, Khovd and Zavkhan, have told Gal Undesten Union officials that a large quantity of meat is regularly smuggled to China in trucks carrying coal. Between 600 and 700 tons of sheep and goat meat is smuggled daily.

AP, as the global financial crisis has led to coal, copper and wool prices, the Government of Mongolia 15, the Chinese Government provides 30 billion dollars in loans to address the current crisis.

Date: December 23, 2010 Name: Open Bidding for Contract Miner for Tavan Tolgoi Coal Deposit Number: Erdenes-TT/23/12/2010

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and National Agency for Meteorology,Hydrology and Environment Monitoring say that the wintering situation in 88 soums of 15 aimags may worsen.

One exchange is the world's smallest, the other is in a country recovering from war, but they're both thriving.

HONG KONG Dec 28 (Reuters) - Miners bidding for Mongolia's Tavan Tolgoi, which could become one of the world's largest coal mines, have to submit a proposal for upfront payment to win the deal, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday.

Solomon Resources Ltd. (SRB:TSX-V) is pleased to provide an update on its exploration programs in Mongolia. Solomon іѕ exploring projects, subject tο іtѕ Option Agreement wіtһ Gallant Minerals Ltd., covering 22 projects іח Mongolia.

There was little for Australians to be excited about at the MCG on Monday, but a couple of kilometres away a Melbourne man became the first person to complete 52 marathons in 52 weeks.

December 23 (Leyshon) Leyshon Resources Limited (AIM:LRL, ASX:LRL) (Company) advises that it has today lodged the attached Admission Document with the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange pursuant to its readmission to trading on AIM.

A consortium of four Japanese trading houses plans to bid for partial development of Mongolia's coal deposits of more than 6 billion metric tons, spokesmen of three of the four companies said Monday.

China imported a total of 14.52 million tonnes of coal from Mongolia in the first eleven months this year, growing 109% year on year, as per the Administration of Inner Mongolia Coal Industry.

A Korea Development Bank (KDB) delegation headed by its Chairman and CEO, Euoo-Sung Min, recently called on Prime Minister S.Batbold to express their interest in cooperating with Mongolia in running the recently established National Development Bank.

The Government has decided to spend USD24,307 remaining of the soft loan of USD300 million from the Chinese Government on some construction work for Ulaanbaatar Railway.

The Standing Committee on Nature, Environment, Food and Agriculture decided on December 22 to forward to Parliament the proposal to allocate MNT1.8 trillion to a national program on climate change that will be spent on environmental protection, including post-mining reclamation.

The Millennium Challenge Foundation (MCF) has handed over ambulance vehicles with medical equipment and training facilities worth USD285 million to hospitals and health organizations throughout the country.

MP S.Oyun answers our reporter’s questions on the election law.

Parliament passed on December 23 the law draft on procedures to amend the Constitution. Earlier, the final discussion at the Standing Committees had been marked by acrimony and dispute, but the approval by Parliament was comparatively uneventful.

Nine organizations in the construction field were chosen as the best in as many spheres and received the Barilga Best Awards-2010 at a ceremony in Chinggis Khaan hotel on December 20.

A cooperation memorandum has been signed between tourism officials of Mongolia and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China.

Construction work in Ulaanbaatar city this year has cost MNT21.4 billion or 43.5% more than in 2009. This includes MNT16.4 billion spent on building and street repair work done by foreign and domestic companies.

Two DP MPs, Ya. Batsuuri and E. Bat-Uul, have expressed concern that state-owned companies are “used as milk cows” by those in power and said that until there is operational transparency in them, they “will remain hotbeds of corruption”.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ According to a preliminary census of livestock of 2010, Mongolia has lost 12 million heads of livestock due to natural disasters and infectious diseases.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ All members' session of Mongolia's National Olympic Committee (MonNOC) was held December 22 in the Olympic House.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The "Borte Chono-2010" festival of granting the best sportspeople prizes took place Thursday in the "600" studio at Mongolia's National Public Television.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ A delegation headed by Lieutenant-General Ts.Byambajav, head of the General Headquarters of Mongolia's Armed Forces (GHMAF) paid an official visit December 21-23 to People's Republic of China at an invitation of the Colonel-General Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff Department of People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ Initiated and established by State Honored Sportsmen Kh.Tsagaanbaatar, E.Badar-Uugan and B.Naranbaatar, the "Together for success" NGO has granted the "Successor of Champions" prize to FIDE Master D.Nomin-Erdene.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ Director of the "Erdenet" Mining Corporation Ch.Ganzorig has been elected the president of Mongolia's Olympic Boxing Federation (MOBF).

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ A meeting of Mongolia's Free-Style Wrestling Federation (MFSWF) has elected its first vice-presidents and some leading officials.

A fascinating study of how democracy is faring in East Asia, released late last year, deserves a closer look, particularly at this time of financial crisis, when self-styled socialist countries (think China and Vietnam) are doing relatively well after turning to the market economy and governments in the capitalist countries are taking over banks and other private enterprises.

Standing two and a quarter meters at the shoulder and weighing as much as a midsize car, the yak is the buffalo of the Mongolian steppe.

If copper closes the year near its current price of around $9,200 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange, the metal will finish the year with an impressive 35 percent gain in only six months.

Ivanhoe Energy IE-T has announced what it’s calling a “significant” natural gas discovery at its subsidiary Sunwing in southwest China, expecting to help meet China’s energy needs.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — Prophecy Resource Corp. ("Prophecy" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: PCY)(OTCQX: PRPCF)(FRANKFURT: 1P2)

The recent Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament ended in victory for yet another foreign sumo wrestler--Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho, a very familiar name on the list of basho winners these days. That marked a victory drought of roughly five years since a Japanese sumo wrestler was last crowned champion.

Firms from Korea, Japan and Russia will reportedly make a joint bid in January for the rights to develop a large coal mine in Mongolia.

Dec 25 (Reuters) - Itochu Corp ( 8001.T ), Sumitomo Corp ( 8053.T ) and two Japan ese trading firms will jointly bid for rights to a large Mongolian coal mine, along with a South Korean consortium and a state-owned Russian company, the Nikkei business daily said.

ULAN BATOR, Dec. 24, 2010 ( Xinhua News Agency ) -- Official statistics showed Friday the total number of livestock in Mongolia this year is 31.8 million, down 27.7 percent from 2009.

ULAN BATOR, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia Friday appealed to the Mongolian public to give up drinking vodka when attending a new year ceremony.

Nippon Steel Corp. , Japan’s biggest mill, is interested in investing in coal projects in Russia and Mongolia to secure supplies of the raw material, an executive said.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The cabinet meeting held Wednesday approved a Mongolia-Russia inter-governmental agreement on regulation of financial responsibility of Mongolia to the Russian Federation (RF) which was signed December 14, 2010 in Moscow, Russia.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The cabinet discussed and approved Wednesday a document on standards of social services to be equally delivered to the people.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The government discussed and approved Wednesday an inter-governmental agreement on cooperation in combating against human trafficking, between Mongolia and Macau, a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ On Wednesday, the cabinet meeting considered results of the state visit of the President Ts.Elbegdorj to Japan paid November 15-19 and decided to submit them to the National Security Council.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ Mongolia's National Olympic Committee (MonNOC) has organized a seminar for heads of Olympic councils of aimags and the city's districts. The main purposes of the action are to spread and develop sports in rural areas and to propagandize international Olympic ideology among children and youths.

The year 2010 was named the year of “Renovation of Business Environment” and in accordance, the government provided soft loans for small and medium enterprises.

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Mining takeovers, heading for the second best year on record, are shifting to the emerging markets of Africa and Asia as BHP Billiton Ltd., Rio Tinto Group and Xstrata Plc look to seal cheaper deals in less-explored areas.

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 22, 2010) - Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN)(NYSE:IVN)(NASDAQ:IVN) announced today that rights to be issued under the company's previously announced rights offering will begin trading on a "when issued" basis on Thursday, December 23, 2010, on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol "IVN.RT," on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol "IVN RT WI" and on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol "IVN.Z."

HONG KONG, CHINA--(Marketwire - Dec. 23, 2010) - SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX:SGQ)(SEHK:1878), announced today that it has completed the private placement with Aspire Mining Limited ("Aspire") (ASX:AKM) announced on October 26, 2010.

PERTH-BASED HUNNU Coal listed on the Australian Securities Exchange on February 12, 2010, as a specialist coal company with a clearcut strategy.

The National Statistics Office has released figures for key indices in several social and economic sectors.

The Standing Committee on Security and Foreign Policy has unanimously approved the proposed agreement between Mongolia and China to send convicted prisoners to their home countries. Mongolia already has a similar agreement with Canada and South Korea. Once the agreement is concluded, the exchange of prisoners can start within three months.