Oyu Tolgoi reaffirms pledge to herders on water

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Mine says if there are water losses, the water will be replenished

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (ot.mn) – Oyu Tolgoi has reaffirmed its pledge regarding local water supplies, saying that construction or operations activities will not impact community water sources – and offering to mitigate any losses if they do.

Specifically, Oyu Tolgoi has said that it will protect established herder water supplies from reductions in quantity and quality. Oyu Tolgoi CEO Cameron McRae said that Oyu Tolgoi was determined to make sure locals were reassured.

“If we have any adverse impact on any wells around Oyu Tolgoi, we will act swiftly to help. That is our promise:” he said. He added that because Oyu Tolgoi got its water from entirely separate sources to local wells any impact was unlikely.

Oyu Tolgoi’s commitment is the latest in a series of social and environmental commitments carried forward by mine operator Rio Tinto, which is a member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and gets an A+ Rating on the Global Reporting Initiative.

Rio Tinto is also listed on the FTSE4Good Index, the Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index.

McRae said Oyu Tolgoi’s pledges were totally in line with Rio Tinto’s beliefs.

“It is important that as a company we live our values. This is just one commitment that we can make to our neighbours in the South Gobi, and we are pleased to do so.”

Rio Tinto is also committed to playing its part in helping to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Please see the Rio Tinto website for further details http://www.riotinto.com/

About Oyu Tolgoi

Oyu Tolgoi LLC is Mongolia’s largest copper and gold mining company and is a strategic partnership between the Government of Mongolia, Ivanhoe Mines 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 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$85 million dollars (110 billion MNT) in training.

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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