Press release: Oyu Tolgoi will protect the Undai river flow

– Oyu Tolgoi personnel and local residents visited and reviewed a river diversion done half a century ago –

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia – Representatives of the local herders, residents of the Khanbogd soum and personnel of Oyu Tolgoi LLC visited a river diversion site at the Sharyn Gol coal mine in Darkhan-Uul aimag.

The river in the Sharyn Gol mine site was diverted 1.5 km in 1964. A dam was built to divert the river to the north of the mine site. To date no negative impact has been observed in the river and the surrounding environment.

Kh.Bat-Erdene, Community Relations Officer for Oyu Tolgoi LLC said: “We visited the actual river diversion site with local community representatives. This river was successfully diverted about 50 years ago. This gave us confidence that today river diverting can be done without any negative impact on natural environment, as technology has developed much more now”.

Oyu Tolgoi LLC is preparing to divert the Undai river in Khanbogd soum of Umnugobi aimag. The Undai river crosses through the open mine site and the waste rock stockpile. Oyu Tolgoi have decided to partially divert the river to prevent the flow of the river water into the open pit mine and to reduce the impact down river by retaining the river flow.

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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