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| Bagged copper concentrate from Oyu Tolgoi. |
Oyu Tolgoi LLC announced on February 18 that it had shipped its 1 millionth metric ton (mt) of copper concentrate, approximately 19 months after its first concentrate shipment in July 2013. Oyu Tolgoi LLC President and CEO Andrew Woodley said, “This is a major milestone for the company. To reach 1 million mt in such a short time has required extraordinary teamwork from each member of the Oyu Tolgoi family, along with the strong support of our stakeholders.”
Oyu Tolgoi LLC is owned 66% by Turquoise Hill Resources and 34% by Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC, a Mongolian government company. Rio Tinto owns a 50.8% share of Turquoise Hill Resources and manages the project.
Oyu Tolgoi’s full-year 2014 production totaled 148,400 mt of copper, 589,000 oz of gold, and 893,000 oz of silver in 563,600 mt of concentrates. Strong concentrate sales continued during the fourth quarter of 2014, with sales exceeding production, resulting in an inventory drawdown for the quarter.
For 2015, Oyu Tolgoi is forecasting production of 175,000 to 195,000 mt of copper and 600,000 to 700,000 oz of gold in concentrates.
