- Write by:
-
Thursday, March 10, 2022 - 13:10:34
-
382 Visit
-
Print
Mining News Pro - Rio Tinto is working to avoid a fresh challenge at its giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia by keeping relationships with Russia steady, as the company seeks to ensure supplies of fuel and other goods to the site.
“While Rio has begun looking for alternative fuel sources for Oyu Tolgoi, the company does not believe it can stop buying from Russia altogether,” Bold Baatar, head of Rio Tinto’s copper business, said on the sidelines of an energy conference happening this week in Houston.
“The reality is, Mongolia has two very big powerful neighbours, so it’s quite important for us to maintain healthy, peaceful, balanced relationships,” said Baatar.
Rio is developing a $6.93 billion underground expansion of the Gobi Desert-based mine, which has been plagued by delays and costs overruns. The issues triggered the Mongolian government’s ire to the point of threatening to revoke the 2009 investment agreement that underpins the mine development.
Relations between Rio Tinto and the Central Asian nation hit a low in August, when an independent review rejected the mining giant’s explanation for the project’s delays and climbing costs.
After several talks and the personal intervention of the company’s chief executive Jakob Stausholm, Rio and Mongolia inked an agreement ending the long-running dispute in January.
Landlocked
Mongolia, which owns 34% of Oyu Tolgoi, is bordered on the north by Russia and on the south and east by China. This leaves Rio limited options to secure supplies for the project, 66%-owned by Canada’s Turquoise Hill Resources (TSX, NYSE: TRQ), in which Rio has a 50.8% stake.
Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some of the world’s best-known brands — from Apple to Disney and Ikea — have abruptly left the country, with many other companies and governments stopping the acquisition of Russian products.
Rio knows it must deal with the issue in a way that both lets it comply with Western sanctions against Moscow and doesn’t tarnish its reputation further.
The company is still licking the wounds caused by its destruction of two 46,000-year-old Aboriginal rock shelters in Australia in 2020.
It is also dealing with an external report, published last month, which exposed a culture of “systemic” bullying, sexual harassment and racism within the ranks of the world’s second largest miner.
Short Link:
https://www.miningnews.ir/En/News/620854
Anglo American Plc said it is has received an unsolicited non-binding combination proposal from BHP Group.
Toronto-listed miner OceanaGold Corp said on Wednesday it will raise 6.08 billion pesos ($106 million) through an ...
A key measure of Chinese copper demand just sank to zero, another indication that global prices are not balanced with ...
Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals (TSX: FM) believes it will be able to take the already mined 121,000 tonnes of ...
Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals said on Tuesday that it has cut its debt by $1.14 billion in the first quarter.
The London Metal Exchange is imposing new rules surrounding the movement of metal in its warehousing network, taking aim ...
Chile is expected to produce a record 5.8 million metric tons of copper in 2025, the state-run Chilean Copper Commission ...
Canada has granted Airbus a waiver to allow it to use Russian titanium in its manufacturing after becoming the first ...
Copper traded near $10,000 a ton, hitting a new two-year high on its way, as investors continue to pile in on a bet that ...
No comments have been posted yet ...