– Corroborating collaboration –
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia – The Oyu Tolgoi mine is ready for production. The project construction and operation will have both positive and negative impacts on the local region. Working in accordance to international standards, Oyu Tolgoi have taken measures aimed at adjusting these impacts, alleviating the negative and fostering the positive ones, enabling local residents to improve their livelihood and develop sustainably.
As a part of these efforts, we have started implementing a livelihood support programme for the herders of the project-affected area. Through this programme we are generating job placements for a member of each project-affected household, supporting their businesses, providing educational scholarships, improving pasture management, providing skill-building training and rehabilitating water sources.
An event entitled, ‘Our cooperation is a key to development’, took place last Monday and was attended by Oyu Tolgoi LLC executives, staff and the herders of the project-affected area of Khanbogd soum. During the event held at the Oyu Tolgoi project site, the herders were given a tour of the site project construction work, they shared their own views, discussed how our cooperation is being effectively advanced and confirmed the status of our partnership. The herder support agreement, signed with each household, enables collaboration for developing the soum, particularly on improving rangeland management. A collaborative agreement to be established with the local government will play a crucial role in it. Like the herder support agreement a collaborative agreement will be a transparent and participatory document which will protect the interest of local residents.
One of the participants, herder Ch.Munkhchuluun from Gaviluut team, Khanbogd soum said: “I’m very glad that the herders from the project-affected area are involved in the programme. As for me, I got a job. The herders collaborate with Oyu Tolgoi LLC, understand each other and cooperate”. Javkhlan team herder, D.Dugar shared: “The tuition fees of the children of the herders involved in the programme have been paid and new jobs have been created. All these are of great advantage to herder’s life”.
There is a Mongolian proverb: ‘People should rely on mutual support’. So in the Umnugovi the mining and the nomadic livestock husbandry co-exist, cooperating and developing together. And this event proves it.
About Oyu Tolgoi LLC (http://en.ot.mn/)
Oyu Tolgoi LLC is Mongolia’s largest copper and gold mining company and is a strategic partnership between the Government of Mongolia (34 per cent stake), Turquoise Hill Resources (66 per cent) and Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto is the major shareholder in Turquoise Hill Resources and the manager of the Oyu Tolgoi project. In addition to dividends from its 34 per cent stake in Oyu Tolgoi, the Government of Mongolia will receive taxes and royalties.
Oyu Tolgoi, located in the Gobi desert in southern Mongolia, will be one of the largest and highest-grade copper and gold mines in the world. It is the largest project ever developed in Mongolia, requiring a capital investment for phase 1 of more than US$6 billion.
Oyu Tolgoi is committed to contributing to a sustainable future for Mongolia. At least 9 out of 10 employees will be Mongolian once the mine is in production and Oyu Tolgoi is investing US$58 million dollars (78 billion MNT) in training and education and an additional US$27 million dollars (36 billion MNT) in the Workforce Employment Project designed to help address the general skills shortage in Mongolia
Oyu Tolgoi’s key priorities are the health and safety of employees, best-practice environmental management, contributing to sustainable communities and always doing business with integrity, for the benefit of all the project’s shareholders and the people of Mongolia.
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