The Tavan Tolgoi deposit in the south Gobi region has estimated reserves of more than 6 billion metric ton (mt) of coal, including the world’s largest untapped deposit of steelmaking coking coal. The western Tsankhi block holds around 1.2 billion mt of reserves, 65% of which is coking coal. It has an estimated production life of more than 30 years at 15 million mt per year.
Although the government is yet to publicly announce details of how the joint development will occur, it is believed the intention is to have all three parties jointly develop Tavan Tolgoi. There has been speculation the Shenhua/Mitsui consortium is to own 40%, Peabody 24% and the Russian-led consortium 36%.
As part of the western development, the companies will make a $1 billion payment to the Mongolian government, including $500 million that is non-refundable. The project, which may require initial investment of more than $7 billion, is seen as vital to kick-start the land-locked nation’s economy. It will also generate billions of dollars in revenue for the companies involved and add tens of millions of tons of increasingly rare coking coal used by steel makers.
