Ivanhoe Mines will begin full-scale construction at the Mongolian Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mining complex in 2010, with a year-long budget of US$758 million.
The Vancouver-based company said the 2010 budget, approved with its partner Rio Tinto PLC, provides for an early start on a site-wide development program at the southern Mongolian mining complex.
“The approval of the 2010 construction budget represents the next big step toward bringing this project into production,” said president and CEO John Macken.
“Ivanhoe is considering a schedule that could see construction of the initial open-pit mine completed in 2012 and commercial production begin in 2013.”
Work in 2010 is planned to include pouring concrete for the foundation of the 100,000 tonne-per-day concentrator, installation of a 20-megawatt power station and 35-kilovolt distribution system and construction on a highway link to the Mongolia-China border and a regional airport.
Ivanhoe Mines recently signed the long-awaited deal with Mongolia to develop the Oyu Tolgoi project after a heated national debate over how to exploit the country’s mineral wealth.
The agreement on the gold and copper mine in the Gobi desert was renegotiated repeatedly after opponents complained it shortchanged Mongolia, which lies wedged between Russia and China and has long been wary of foreign domination.
Ivanhoe Mines also has an 80 per cent stake in SouthGobi Energy Resources Ltd., focused on exploring and developing metallurgical and thermal coal deposits in Mongolia and Indonesia.
Source: Canadian Press
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