Another sign of major progress at South Gobi mine
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (ot.mn) – On Tuesday November 29 Oyu Tolgoi received approval from the Energy Regulatory Authority (ERA) to operate the Central Heating Plant that will supply heat to the Oyu Tolgoi mine site until the power plant is built.
The plant itself is 90 per cent complete – two of the four boilers have now been fully installed. Construction begun early this year.
The plant is being built by contractor JDCC, and will run on coal supplied from local sources. The plant will start producing heat in spring next year.
The license to operate is yet another example of the massive progress being made at Oyu Tolgoi. Oyu Tolgoi LLC estimates that construction will be 70 per cent complete by the end of 2011.
Oyu Tolgoi is expected to celebrate ‘First Ore’ – when the first train goes through the concentrator commissioned to process ore in the third quarter of 2012. The mine will begin to produce commercially from the middle of 2013.
Cameron McRae, CEO of Oyu Tolgoi, said: “We are delighted to have been granted the license to operate by the ERA, who have fully approved the project design and operational plan.
Oyu Tolgoi is being constructed at a very rapid rate. Even though winter is upon us, the pace is barely dropping. We will keep all stakeholders fully informed on progress.”
About Oyu Tolgoi LLC (www.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), Ivanhoe Mines (66 per cent) and Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto is the major shareholder in Ivanhoe Mines and the manager of Oyu Tolgoi. 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 one 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 billionMNT) 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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