Mining in Mongolia: The New Black
Mongolia is land locked country squeezed between the Russian Federation to the north and China in the south and it almost just touches the border of Kazakhstan in the West. Since moving from a communist state to a democracy in the early 1990′s, Mongolia has been working to make its mark on the free market economy. On the back of mining income, the capital of Ulaanbataar now boasts fashion houses like Prada and Zegna and the young population speak English very well. For the mining industry the opening up of the country is akin to discovering a new El Dorado.With a population of 2.8 million people, Mongolia is the most sparsely populated country in the world and its vast mineral resources are virtually untapped.
One of the worlds leading mining entrepreneurs, Robert Friedland of Ivanhoe Mines, has described Mongolia as the ‘new frontier for global mining’.
Ivanhoe has established the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold-silver mine in Mongolia, the largest of its kind in the world
Australian companies making their mark in Mongolia
Australian mining companies are joining the international race to establish massive coal and other minerals industries in Mongolia.
One of them is the oddly named C@ (SEE-at) which started life as an opticals company.
Then Mark Earley took over as CEO to steer C@ into its new role as an explorer and developer of mines.
Mark Earley has a long pedigree in the coal industry, and he sees what’s happening in Mongolia now as a reflection of how Indonesia developed its coal sector around 25 years ago.
“The Mongolian Government has developed a very understandable structure around license acquisition, around development and exploration, all the way through to mining” he says.
“It’s a clear policy that’s spelt out with clear taxes and royalties and in all, the licensing system there is very well organised.”
Mark Earley says the Mongolian government understands that a robust mining industry can not only fill the coffers, but help socially, in a country with the vast majority of people live in poverty.
“It has numerous social issues around alcoholic drinks, there are, orphanages that are full of young children that don’t have parents, I hope a lot of the money that comes from mining will go back and sort out the social issues in Mongolia because it’s got a very bright future.”
Aspire Mining is another Australian company that has a presence in Mongolia.
It has 100 per cent ownership of the Ovoot Coking Coal Project in the North.
The coal has been described by analysts as having ‘highly attractive properties and is a hard coking coal with superior blend carrying capacity’.
In layman’s terms, it means the coal is good quality and would be attractive to any of the worlds steel makers, where coking coal is used in blast furnaces to turn iron ore into steel
This week a major mining conference is being held in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbataar, and Australian companies will be there in force.
One of the worlds leading mining entrepreneurs, Robert Friedland of Ivanhoe Mines, has described Mongolia as the ‘new frontier for global mining’.
Ivanhoe has established the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold-silver mine in Mongolia, the largest of its kind in the world
Australian companies making their mark in Mongolia
Australian mining companies are joining the international race to establish massive coal and other minerals industries in Mongolia.
One of them is the oddly named C@ (SEE-at) which started life as an opticals company.
Then Mark Earley took over as CEO to steer C@ into its new role as an explorer and developer of mines.
Mark Earley has a long pedigree in the coal industry, and he sees what’s happening in Mongolia now as a reflection of how Indonesia developed its coal sector around 25 years ago.
“The Mongolian Government has developed a very understandable structure around license acquisition, around development and exploration, all the way through to mining” he says.
“It’s a clear policy that’s spelt out with clear taxes and royalties and in all, the licensing system there is very well organised.”
Mark Earley says the Mongolian government understands that a robust mining industry can not only fill the coffers, but help socially, in a country with the vast majority of people live in poverty.
“It has numerous social issues around alcoholic drinks, there are, orphanages that are full of young children that don’t have parents, I hope a lot of the money that comes from mining will go back and sort out the social issues in Mongolia because it’s got a very bright future.”
Aspire Mining is another Australian company that has a presence in Mongolia.
It has 100 per cent ownership of the Ovoot Coking Coal Project in the North.
The coal has been described by analysts as having ‘highly attractive properties and is a hard coking coal with superior blend carrying capacity’.
In layman’s terms, it means the coal is good quality and would be attractive to any of the worlds steel makers, where coking coal is used in blast furnaces to turn iron ore into steel
This week a major mining conference is being held in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbataar, and Australian companies will be there in force.
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