COAL GASIFICATION PLANT TO BE ESTABLISHED

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ During the Transparent Mining meeting on Wednesday, the Mining Ministry announced ten biggest projects planned for this year. The underground mine project of Oyu Tolgoi tops the ten major projects. Its financing has been postponed until this September at a request of Rio Tinto, who owns a two third of the project. During the period, the Mongolian part is planning to complete feasibility studies of the project and present them in September to Rio Tinto. The latter will also touch upon an issue of the fund-raising from 15 international banks. The second biggest project is the competitiveness enhancement of the Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi deposit in foreign markets by attracting domestic and foreign investors to ongoing construction in the deposit, including a project of coal gasification plant (synthetic gas production from coal). Preliminaries such as feasibility studies and forming of a joint company responsible for the coal gasification plant project are expected to be completed by this August. The construction of the plant needs a financing estimated at USD 30 billion, and it is one of the costliest projects planned for this year. Within this year, a location will be chosen, preliminaries will be completed for an oil processing plant, says the Ministry officer, adding that for stimulation of strategic deposit activities, four major deposits such as Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (coal), Tsagaan Suvarga (copper, molybdenum), Gatsuurt (gold) and Asgat (silver) will come into economic circulation. Once the Petroleum Law is passed at parliament, several projects will be implemented in the nation, with missions to stimulate petroleum production with increased use of raw oil, methane gas, oil shale, and shale gas. The Ministry also intends to complete programs related to production of rare earth elements, fluorspar, coal, gold, zinc and other mixed metals, and to launch projects on a copper smelting plant and a steel factory, in collaboration with other ministries. In consideration of comparably large amount of investments needed for development of geology, mining and oil production, the Ministry is to advance the investment market of Mongolia and to establish a Mineral Exchange in order to raise financing as needed, said the Ministry officer.