President Meets Mongolian Workers at Oyu Tolgoi

Elbegdorj visits as mine hits 70 per cent completion

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (ot.mn) – Mongolian workers at Oyu Tolgoi, the gold and copper mine under development in the South Gobi, welcomed President Tsakhia Elbegdorj to the mine last Friday.

The President witnessed first-hand the enormous progress at the mine site, which will excavate its first minerals in June 2012. Oyu Tolgoi recently passed 70 per cent completion of the first phase of construction.

The President is also met with workers in the site canteen, and heard their stories of living and working at Oyu Tolgoi. Oyu Tolgoi employs around 10,000 Mongolians and is operating the largest vocational training programme in Mongolia’s history to train future generations of workers.

The President also met local suppliers at an exhibition on the site. Local suppliers have collectively received 3.2bn MNT from Oyu Tolgoi even though the mine is yet to begin operations.

Later the President went to Khanbodg and held a town-hall with Oyu Tolgoi Chairman Batsukh G.

The Oyu Tolgoi senior leadership listened to the concerns of local residents, and reiterated the benefits that Oyu Tolgoi had brought to the town. In Khanbodg, Oyu Tolgoi:

• Currently employs 879 workers from the town
• Has constructed a Vocational Training Center, which is due to open in April 2012, with an investment of nearly 2bn MNT. The vocational training centre will accommodate 150 students per year
• Built the town’s first dental clinic which has served over 80 per cent of the population of Khanbodg
• Contributed 40 per cent of the cost of the construction of a new wing on the local school and kindergarten at a cost of 272,000,000 MNT
• Donated two generators, maintenance expertise and diesel fuel to power the town, amounting to an investment of 1.2bn MNT

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 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 tugriks) in training and education and an additional US$27 million dollars (36 billion tugriks) 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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