OT MARKS FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF COMMENCEMENT OF SHIPMENT

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Oyu Tolgoi LLC Wednesday celebrated the first anniversary since it began shipment of its copper concentrate to international customers, the company’s website reported. In a speech to members of the workforce in Ulaanbaatar, OT President and CEO, Craig Kinnell, congratulated them on the completion of a full year of exports, and spoke about OT’s strong future. “The open-pit is up and running and our business is getting stronger and stronger. The concentrate that we have produced contains enough copper to run a standard 22mm copper pipe almost five times around the world. "That’s a lot of copper. But what we have done goes far beyond the product that we make and export. While we’re never complacent, we should be proud that we are bringing a new approach to safety standards in Mongolia,” Mr Craig Kinnell said. “We’ve completed a five year investment of more than US$126 million in education and training, a scheme which more than 13,000 Mongolians have benefited from. “We’re continuing to work with our neighbours to strengthen our partnership and agree a long term approach to supporting the South Gobi together. Our water recycling rate has now reached 86.4 per cent, reusing each drop more than five times, and making us one of the very best copper mines in the world for water efficiency,” he said. Looking to the future, he continued: “Our business could last as long as one hundred years. In those terms, we are a small child, with many years of growing and developing ahead of us. "With age comes wisdom, and with experience comes strength. We have much more to do, and a lot of challenges and hard work to face together. "But I have so much confidence in what we have already achieved - the seeds that we have sown to create a safe and thriving partnership, developing one of the best ore bodies in the world.” In a ceremony last year, Prime Minister Altankhuyag, Mining Minister Gankhuyag, and Rio Tinto Copper Group Chief Executive, Jean Sebastien Jacques watched the first convoy of trucks depart for international markets. Since then, exports have continued to ramp-up while the business has focused on safely improving productivity and efficiency.