Rio Tinto welcomes investment agreement resolution by Mongolian government

AKIPRESS.COM - The Mongolian Parliament has approved a resolution that instructs the country's government to improve the implementation of a 2009 investment agreement over the Oyu Tolgoi mine, as well as a 2011 amended and restated shareholder agreement and a 2015 underground mine development and financing plan, the Creamer Media's Mining Weekly reports.
Diversified miner Rio Tinto on Wednesday said the passing of the resolution effectively reconfirmed the validity of all the investment agreements between the Mongolian government, Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill Resources.
Rio Tinto, the Mongolian government and Turquoise jointly own the Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold mine.
The resolution by Parliament brings to a close an 18-month review of Oyu Tolgoi and the investment agreements governing the business by the Parliamentary Working Group.
"Adherence to these agreements by all parties has underpinned a total in-country spend of around $10-billion since 2010, which has delivered significant benefits to the people of Mongolia and will continue to do so for decades to come.
"There is a lot of work to do to ensure Oyu Tolgoi reaches its full potential and we remain committed to exploring ways to deliver even greater benefits from Oyu Tolgoi to all shareholders," the miner said.
The resolution includes additional clauses related to exploring options to look at the Mongolian government's equity share in Oyu Tolgoi; a re-definition of the reserve report and updated feasibility report; a renewal of the environmental and water assessments; and further capability development within the team which represents the Mongolian party.