Asia Energy

A fledgling producer of iron ore, molybdenum, fluorspar and zinc alongside its big three minerals – copper, gold and coal – Mongolia’s extensive deposits hold significant promise for further diversifying output. However, moving from exploration to mining for new minerals such as uranium and rare earths will depend on high-level government support. While output of...

A perfect storm of falling commodity prices and policy changes since May 2012 has taken its toll on mining investment, heightening fiscal pressure on the state to rebuild investor confidence. Having repealed the restrictive Strategic Entities Foreign Investment Law (SEFIL) with the new Investment Law of October 2013, which grants equal treatment to local and foreign...

With a focus on curbing political risk to encourage new investment, Mongolian authorities are striving to build a competitive industry to develop the country’s abundant natural resources. Copper regained its place as Mongolia’s top export in 2014, and is the primary focus of new exploration alongside gold and niches like fluorspar and rare earths. With metallurgical...

With the lion’s share of current coal exports unprocessed, the government is eager to build a domestic coal value chain that could jump-start Mongolia’s mid-stream segment. By 2014 the government had approved feasibility studies for two coal-to-liquid (CTL) projects and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sinopec for synthetic natural gas plants.