Underground Development at Oyu Tolgoi Delayed

All provisionally secured funding and work on underground development at Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi mine has been placed on hold, according to company officials, after the Mongolian government cited the need for further parliamentary approval. Party representatives, however, are on summer recess. In the meantime, Rio Tinto said it will continue to focus on current management and ramp-up of the $6.2 billion open-pit mine in the South Gobi Desert with sustained export of its concentrate to customers. The mine is 66%-owned by Rio subsidiary Turquoise Hill, with the remainder owned by Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi, a state-owned enterprise.