Wednesday, 27th June 2007 (1209 views)

An Ivanhoe Mines copper-gold project in the South Gobi region of Mongolia is to support local communities, it has been claimed.

The Oyu Tolgoi mine "represents a unique opportunity to advance Mongolia's national development goals by securing major investments in jobs, skills training and the strengthening of established communities", said president and chief executive officer of the firm John Macken.

His words came alongside the announcement that the draft Investment Agreement that will guide the development of the project has been completed by the Mongolian government.

The document is said to be the "final step" in approval for the pursuit of the project, Ivanhoe states.

As part of the agreement, the Mongolian government is to hold a 34 per cent stake in the project.

"We have agreed that this partnership would own, finance, build and operate the Oyu Tolgoi project and its associated infrastructure to deliver a new era of resource-investment benefits for generations of Mongolians," asserted Mr Macken.

Ivanhoe Mines formed a strategic partnership with Rio Tinto in 2006 to engineer, construct and operate the Oyu Tolgoi complex jointly.

The firm is also exploring Australia's Cloncurry District and China's Inner Mongolia for gold, copper and uranium.

 

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